Teammates
by 3greeneyes3
Summary: "John's smile faltered while he followed with his eyes the blonde girl: she had such a deep sadness in her eyes that made him want to talk to her to make everything better." Rose Tyler is the typical average, not popular swimmer of a team. John Noble, instead, is the star of it. Are the two of them ever going to talk? Dare we say they'll become friends? Read to find out! Obv AU
1. Strangers

**AN: Hey there folks! Here I am, back with a new multichapter!  
I'll try to be more regular with the posting, although I don't assure anything (school's crazy).  
So, I finally decided to try an AU, but I'LL CONTINUE POSTING THIS ONLY IF I RECEIVE FEEDBACK.  
Otherwise I'll just keep it for myself and save some trouble XD**

 **P.S.: I know this is short, but it's just the prologue, nothing more.  
I already have the first real chapter ready, so if I receive feedback I may post it soon.**

 **P.P.S.: This is unbetaed. Every mistake is mine. The characters, however, are not, and neither is the show.**

**Onto the story!**

* * *

Rose stared at the corner where people was laughing: of course the source of these were her teammates.

Her eyes became melanchonic when she saw them all hugging around and laughing, looking really happy.

She could never fit with them: they were successful, popular ones the "right" ones.

She had not the "required characteristics" to be part of that elite: she wasn't fast, she wash' successful, she wasn't in any kind of way popular.

Her heart constricted when she saw the bright smile of _that_ one guy, the one that obviously was in that group and she could never have.

She turned away, the tears threatening to escape her eyes and, with a deep shaky breath, went to the changing rooms, almost running.

* * *

 **John's smile faltered while he followed with his eyes the blonde girl: she had such a deep sadness in her eyes that made him want to talk to her to make everything better.**

 **He didn't even know her name: he knew that she swam with him, but she somehow became invisible once she had the swim-cap on.**

 **He could recognize her only after training, but she never talked with anyone, never smiled if not with forced cheerfulness and she always slipped away before he could even think of going to her.**

 **A too high-pitched voice broke through his thoughts and he put on a cordial smile: time to go back to the real world.**

 **He could overthink later.**


	2. Of anxiety and first talks

**AN:** **So.. I received some feedback and decided to go on :)**

 **Tell me what you think of this one too!**

* * *

*stroke* oh, she was so nervous.  
*stroke* she wanted this competition to go well so badly!  
*stroke* she _had to_ be faster than that damned 35 seconds!  
*breath* she had to! Just breath, Rose.  
When she arrived on the other side of the pool she breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly.

Laughter once again caught her attention and watched with envy Anne that was laughing with Shaileen, without a care in the world.  
Of course, they didn't have the pressure she was feeling. They always achieved the results they wanted.  
"Rose go!" Her trainer shouted to her.  
Startled, she pushed herself from the wall and sprinted to reach the others.  
She always had to fight with all their might to succeed even in the slightest, she reasoned with herself while swimming. The others, instead, reached .thing without any effort.  
Life was so unfair sometimes.

She immediately scolded at herself: what a stupid thought!  
She was lucky in every other respect: she had a loving family she loved and who loved her, money wasn't a problem and she had everything she wanted.  
It was so unfair of her to think she was unlucky!  
But she couldn't help herself: she knew every one of her teammates, their names, to which school they went, but they didn't even make the effort of remembering her name!

With one angry stroke she finished the lane and went out of the water.  
As the water trickled down her body, her anger seemed to blend with the drops and leave her body, and she was left with dejectedness and worry.  
Sighing she emptied her googles and that were now full of her tears.  
She stomped to her bag, took out her towel and took off her swim cap.  
Wrapping her towel around herself she sat down, leaning against the wall, hugging her legs to her chest.  
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself.  
«You can do this.» she reassured herself.

Then the whistle signaled the start of the first tournament and she broke down.  
«no, no I can't. I'm always a disappointment for everybody, especially myself. I can't do this» she thought, heaving with sobs but trying to keep quiet.  
Her whole body was shaking, and tears were streaming freely down her face while she conceded herself a couple of minutes of weakness.

A tap on her shoulder startled her, but she kept her head down, knowing she looked like a mess and hoping that whoever it was would go away.  
Or was it her turn? What if it was her trainer calling her?  
No, he would have shouted like always.

"Hey, you okay?" asked a male voice.  
Wait. It was _that_ voice. The one of that boy with spiky brown hair and a gorgeous smile.  
Her head snapped up in shock while she cursed herself: yeah, go on, show your worst face to your crush! Right!  
His look for questioning after some moments of silence and Rose hurried to answer.

A croaked "okay" was all that she could get out.  
God, her voice sounded uglier than usual after she cried.

He looked at her doubtfully and sat down next to her, sighing.  
She couldn't believe what was happening: was he really talking with her?  
"Seriously, though, what's up?" He asked softly, looking at her face.

She was surprised: what?!  
"Nothing, really... Guess I'm just nervous"  
It wouldn't do to tell him her thoughts, he didn't need to listen to her stupid whining.  
Hell, he was probably just being polite and acting out of pity.

His voice was even softer this time.  
"Well, you shouldn't be... It's just another competition, isn't it?"

She let out a bitter laugh.  
"What?" He asked, put out.

"Yeah, another disappointment.." She said, and unwilling tears started welling up in her eyes.  
Why did she say that? And why was she so emotional?  
She jumped when his hand covered hers, but didn't pull away.

"Come on, I'm sure you're letting yourself down more than you should." He whispered, flicking his thumb over her hand as he spoke.

"You-..you don't know how bad I am at this... I-..I don't even know why I keep doing this.." She said, her voice breaking over and over.

He kept stroking her hand slowly, staring forward at the busy pool.  
"Because you like it?" He asked.  
She reasoned silently: he may have a point.

"John!" Came the voice of their coach.  
He reluctantly got up, still clutching her hand in his.  
"I gotta go" he said softly, fixing his eyes in hers.  
Rose felt like she was drowning in them.

"I'm sure you can do this, okay?" He asked and she only nodded, not trusting words.  
His manic grin came out at that point.  
"Great. Good luck Rose!" He said, hurrying away after stroking her hand one last time.

She was stunned: he knew her name!  
John Noble, the best swimmer of her team knew _her_ name!

"Rose!" Her trainer broke once again her thoughts.  
Time to face her fear.

* * *

She was in the call room and she was panicking. Again.  
She couldn't do this. It was too much.  
She wanted to go well, she just needed to believe in herself.  
Easy to say.

She walked to her chair: her tournament started after this one.  
Her nerves were breaking.  
Suddenly she caught sight of a familiar face and she saw John smiling up at her and giving her thumbs up.  
She could do this.

She got to her diving board and took a deep breath, diving in the water as soon as the whistle blowed, the grin of John Noble impressed in her mind.

* * *

Except she couldn't, she thought running to the shower.  
35.0...her trainer was quite happy, he didn't even reprimand her. But that was normal, she wasn't one of his favorites, the ones he always corrected and incited.

She wasn't even crying. She didn't have the strength for it anymore.  
She didn't try to collect herself, she just dressed and dried her hair, then exited the changing room.  
She spotted her team and quickly made a beeline for the door, careful to avoid them.  
When she reached her father's waiting car, she turned around and saw a glimpse of brown hair, but her vision got blurred from her tears.

* * *

 **His face fell when he saw her face: she was distraught.**

 **All he wanted to do was run after her and take her in his harms, holding her until she stopped crying and she felt better.**

 **What he did instead was clench his hands, turn back to his friends and nod mindlessly while his mind kept repeating the moment they shared.**

 **Oh boy, he was in trouble.**

* * *

 **AN (2): I'm not really sure about this chapter for the length and also because of the technical parts..Is it understandable?**  
 **Please, help me get better :)**


	3. When a younger sibling is all you need

**AN: Hey there folks! I'm sorry for the delay, life got in the way the last couple of weeks but now I'm back and I'll try to post regularly :)  
This chapter is not really long, but I needed the transition and also wanted to introduce this other two characters. I hope you like them!**

 **Many, many thanks to** EmilyAndTheDiamonds **who is beta reading this! :)**

 **P.S.: bold text is from John's POV,** normal text **is for** Rose POV **and** underlined text **is for** others POV (in this case Jackie's one) and it'll be like this for the whole story

* * *

 **John got home, slammed the door shut and stomped darkly to his room.**  
 **Unfortunately he found his bed occupied: his ginger sister was sitting on it, mobile in her lap, eyes now focused on him.**  
 **The taller sibling let his bag drop from his shoulders and slouched down on his bed, both avoiding and ignoring his sister.**

 **"Hi to you too!" She exclaimed sarcastically. "How did the competition go?"**

 **"Fine." Muttered the boy, muffled by the pillow.**

 **"Good fine or bad fine?" Donna asked curiously.**

 **"Good fine. If I go on like this I'll qualify for the spring nationals this year."**

 **"Woah, that's great! Didn't seem like this good" She joked.**

 **When she received only a muffled "mmh" as an answer she got worried.**  
 **"What's the matter then?"**

 **"Nothing." He huffed.**

 **"Joooohn!" Donna whined, putting a hand on his back and shaking him.**  
 **"Come on, don't you trust your sister?" she pouted.**

 **John sighed and turned around looking at his sister.**  
 **"Where's Jack?" he asked suspiciously.**

 **"He's at a football match. And mum took him there so they're both gonna be away for a while" She explained dutifully, knowing that her brother needed quiet and solitude to speak his mind.**  
 **John "mh"-ed and scooted a bit towards the wall, leaving some room for his sister.**

 **Donna laid down next to him and sighed.**  
 **"Come on, spill!" she said after some silence.**

 **John sighed heavily once again, then started talking, "There's this girl, Rose... Y' know the one I told you about?"**  
 **The redhead only nodded.**  
 **"Well, today I talked to her."**

 **Donna immediately propped herself on her elbow and stared at him.**  
 **"Really?" she asked excitedly .**  
 **John, keeping his eyes on the ceiling, nodded.**  
 **"And what happened? What did you say to her? What did she say?" she asked without a breath.**

 **"Well, she was really worried and, I think, freaking out, so I tried to reassure her and I thought it had worked..."**  
 **Donna watched as worry, happiness and then sadness passed on her big, soft brother's face:**  
 **"What?" she asked softly.**

 **"The trainer called me and I left her just before the competition. I saw her in the call room and she smiled back at me... But then I saw her rush out of the changing room avoiding me and when she turned around before getting in the car her face was so sad and heartbroken and oh god... Why am I such a coward?! All I wanted to do was go to her and instead I just let her go and be depressed..."**

 **Donna smiled sympathetically, her brother was a bit of a softie and had a big heart. Although she didn't understand this new obsession for the girl; he didn't even know her yet!**  
 **"You don't even know her, John! It would probably have been creepy..." she tried to reassure him.**

 **"Yes but... Ugh!" he said annoyed.**

 **"Why do you care so much about her, anyway?" Donna asked, unable to keep a grip on herself.**

 **John stared harder at the ceiling.**  
 **"I don't know... I guess she reminds me of myself when I first got here... And she's also properly breathtaking." He blushed a little.**

 **Donna smirked and rolled her eyes.**  
 **"Ooh, now I see.." she said with a light slap on his shoulder and a malicious smile.**

 **"Wait! Don't just make assumptions on things you don't know! I don't like her!" The boy exclaimed offended.**

 **"Of course!" was all his sister said before running out of the door, avoiding a pillow at the last second.**

* * *

"Mum, mum! What does Rose have?" Tony asked, tugging on his mother's sleeve.

Jackie sighed, her boy sometimes was far too perceptive for a four year old.

Rose was really down after her last competition but she had never cried in front of Tony.

"Why don't you go ask yourself?" She said lightly, hoping that her brother's presence could cheer her up.

* * *

Rose was lying on her bed, earbuds plugged in her ears, sad music blasting through them.

She couldn't believe how much "Welcome to my life" by Simple Plan fitted her.

Her eyes started glistening with tears while the song went on.

The door bursting open had her wiping furiously at her eyes before looking toward the intruder. Already prepared to attack with a pillow.

She took her earbuds out when she saw her little brother looking up at her with wide, honest, worried eyes.  
"Hey bud, what's up?" She asked trying to keep her voice from cracking.

"Rose, what do you have?"

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"You're always sad and you don't smile anymore..." He said with a little cute frown, as if he was puzzled.

It had been three days since the competition and she hadn't gotten back to the pool yet.

The fact that her brother had noticed warmed her heart.  
Only her family had seen this, and while it made her angry because her "best friends" didn't notice, her brother's sweetness made her feel better.  
"Come here..." She said, taking him in her arms and hugging him tightly.

Her brother timidly wrapped his little arms around her neck.

"I'm better now. Right as rain." She said with a small smile before releasing him.  
"Thank you." She added, gaining him a kiss on the cheek.

She giggled, then started tickling Tony, making him laugh.

After some seconds she stopped, smiling at her brother's happy face.  
"Come play with me?" He asked with the best puppy dog eyes known to man.

Rose stood up, pulling him up to have a piggy back, and started to his room.  
"Allons-y!"

* * *

 **Tell me what you think!**


	4. Allons-y!

**AN: So! This is the second talk of our friends ;) What will happen?  
Read and find out!**

 **Thanks to** EmilyAndTheDiamonds **that betas my story :)**

* * *

The next day, still happy from her afternoon with Tony, Rose decided to go to the pool.  
What could happen?  
The worst thing could be her getting depressed again, which seemed very likely at the moment.

Training had been okay, even though the athletic part had been hard, push-ups where most definitely not her thing.  
Once training finished, she stayed behind to retrieve her water bottle she had forgotten on the other side of the pool, towards the men's changing room.  
She was almost there when she saw a guy walking in her direction and she immediately recognized him: John.  
He was still in his swimming trunks and wet.  
"Hey..." She whispered when they were about a metre apart.

"Hey! I saw your bottle there and you coming here, so I thought I'd help you." He said grinning but blushing slightly.

"Thank you" she said quickly, taking the bottle from him.  
The expected shiver ran through her when their hands brushed.

John hesitated a second, then spoke again.  
"You disappeared on me on Sunday, and I haven't seen you in a couple of days.. Thought you were sick.." He said, still embarrassed.

Rose's head was spinning. Had he noticed? He looked for her? But how? Why?  
She must be dreaming.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked-" He hurried to apologize, not having received an answer yet.

"No, no, it's okay! I was busy, not sick." She answered, not wanting to tell him the truth.

"Oh good.." He said relieved.  
Then he realized what he had said and panicked again.  
"I meant- not good as in-"

Laughing, she stopped him "It's okay, I get what you mean!"

He breathed out soundly"Okay... 'm gonna let you go, stop bothering you" John said, fixing his eyes in hers.

Bothering her? Him?!  
"Okay" she answered, but neither of them turned around or made any move to get away.  
They just looked in each other's eyes, getting lost in them.  
Another trainer behind John coughed because they were blocking the path.

The moment broken, both turned around without a word, neither wanting to say goodbye.

* * *

 **Had he really done this?**  
 **Oh my god, he did.**  
 **She wasn't horrified or thought he was a stalker, though. Shocked maybe.**  
 **At least he hoped so.**  
 **He needed to talk to her again.**  
 **Hurrying out of the shower he got ready.**

* * *

She was one of the last out; she had no one waiting for her.  
And she also had to think about what happened. With John. He had talked to her. Again!  
She didn't know what to think.

She exited the changing room and jumped when a lean figure got off the wall and towards her, but then breathed in relief, and surprise, when she recognized the man: John.  
"You scared me." She told him, punching him lightly on his arm.  
He was wearing blue shorts and a dark blue sweatshirt, trainers and a backpack slung on his shoulders. His bag was really strange. It seemed to have a police box pattern on the back.

He made a pouting sound and rubbed his arm, but said "sorry".  
"What are you doing still here?"

He looked sheepish, now.  
"Well...I just finished changing and was wondering.. How do you go home?"

Rose was suspicious now. "I walk there... Why?"

His face brightened. "Well then...could I maybe walk you home?" John asked timidly.

Her head was spinning again.  
She pinched herself and he was still there. She wasn't dreaming.

"Rose?" He asked, his face falling.

"Sorry... Kinda thought I was dreaming" she said truthfully, blushing, but the cute eager smile on his face was worth it.  
She slung her bag on her shoulder.  
"Of course you can! If you want.." She added as an afterthought, afraid that he might have changed his mind.

"Brilliant!" He exclaimed to her relief, turning towards the door.

"Allons-y!" Said Rose in her giddiness.

John's mouth shaped as a "o", then he rushed out,"You say that too?"

Rose only nodded with a shy smile.  
An enormous grin took over his face.  
"Oh, brilliant, you are!" He said resuming their walking.

"Yeah, but could you imagine knowing someone named Alonso? Then you could say 'Allons-y, Alonso!'" Was the last thing the secretary heard Rose say before the door closed behind them.

She shook her head smiling. The woman had a feeling this two would have a great future together.

* * *

 **"...and then the bottle exploded and the whole room filled with smoke. I swear, my mum screamed my ears off." He said and Rose laughed.**

 **It was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard and he wanted to hear it forever.**  
 **Oh boy, this was bad.**  
 **"My god, you are trouble, aren't you?" She said smiling teasingly.**

 **"Well, let's say that my numerous experiments also gained me a nickname. In my family, I mean." He said sheepishly.**

 **Rose looked curious.**  
 **"Can I know?" She said hesitantly.**

 **He couldn't believe this girl. John was so comfortable around her even if they just started talking, and she managed to be sweet, kind and polite even being friendly and, he had to admit, cute.**  
 **Rose positively shined in every possible way.**  
 **"They call me Doctor. Although my sister usually calls me Spaceman" he snorted.**  
 **He had a deep fondness for both, although "Doctor" was really important to him, his dad called him that, and suddenly everybody picked up on it.**

 **"Nice nicknames!" She beamed.**

 **On an impulse, he added "You can use them too.."**  
 **Then quickly continued with "I mean, if you want obviously. If you don't then it's okay.."**

 **She smiled again.**  
 **"Oke-dokey...Doctor"**

 **His stomach knotted at the way her tongue rolled around his nickname and almost shuddered at her soft tone.**

 **"So, you have a sister?" She asked after a bit.**

 **"Yep. And a brother too. They're both a bit-" He cut himself off as the sky rumbled and looked up, seeing grey clouds hovering over them.**  
 **He laughed.**  
 **"Yeah, exactly like that," he smiled "Looks like it's gonna rain... How far is your house?"**

 **"A couple of blocks."**

 **A mischievous smile appeared on his face.**  
 **He grabbed her hand and shouted "Rose, run!" as he sped off, dragging her behind him.**  
 **Her laughter filled the air as the first drops of water fell to the ground, making John feel happier than he had been in a long pair came to a halt in front of Rose's house and laughed when John skipped forward and almost fell when she tugged him back.**

* * *

The pair came to a halt in front of Rose's house and laughed when John skipped forward and almost fell when she tugged him back.  
The rain was pouring lightly but they were already soaked through.  
"This is were I live." She smiled at him.

"Oh..." He said and she swore she had seen a flash of disappointment on his face.

"Is your house far?" She asked, a bit worried.

"Well...I'm halfway there."

Rose's face became guilty.  
"Do you want to come inside?" She offered. It was still raining, after all.

"No, it's alright" he said smiling softly.

"At least let me get you an umbrella." She said, tugging his hand that was still in hers and opening the gate.  
She took him down the path that led to the small patio in front of the door.  
"Wait a second." She said opening the door, barely giving him a chance to nod.  
A wave of warmth slipped outside, together with a smell that said 'Home'.  
Rose rushed inside and looked around frantically for an umbrella. She could've sworn there was one in the small wardrobe near the door. Under a pile a jackets on the coat rack she finally found it on a chest of drawers in the entrance.  
"Rose? Are you home?" Shouted her mum.

"Yeah. Be back in a mo', mum!" She shouted and rushed back out where John was, looking at her amused.

"Sorry.. Tony must have moved it.." She said blushing.

"Tony?" He asked curious.

"Yeah, my little brother.." She said and, as if on cue, Tony walked towards them.

"Rose?" He asked in his small voice.

"Hey bud, don't come here... You'll catch a cold. Wait for me in the living room." She said sweetly.  
When he left, she turned towards John again.  
The look on his face seemed suspiciously sweet, but she couldn't be sure.  
"Aaand sorry. Again." She said, blushing furiously.

"It's really okay" he smiled.

She handed him the umbrella, a multicolored one, wondering briefly if he had shivered too when their hands brushed, then scoffed. Of course not.  
Realising she had been staring at him for quite some time, she broke the silence.  
"Well, thank you for getting wet to take me home." She said mischievously, her eyes sparkling.

His smile lightened up the air around him.  
"Anytime" he whispered, gaining in response a tongue-touched-Tyler smile that left him breathless and staring at her mouth.

Rose was trembling because of the intensity of his stare. And yeah, maybe she was a bit cold, but that wasn't the main reason.  
"Rose! You'll catch a cold!" Shouted Jackie from inside.

The pair in the rain jumped, startled, and then burst out laughing seeing the other's face.

When their laughter died down, John looked at his watch.  
"Blimey! I should really go, it's getting late" he said looking disappointed.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" His tone was hopeful.

"Of course!" She said grinning, happy at the prospect of seeing him again.

"Goodbye, Rose" he said, opening the umbrella and stepping out the pouring rain after shooting her a last smile.  
Rose watched him until he was out of sight, he was singing.  
She chuckled and rejoiced in the feeling of giddiness, in the butterflies in her stomach, then turned around and ventured inside, closing the door behind her and leaning on it with a sigh.  
Her mum chose that moment to come down the stairs.  
"Who was that?" She asked curiously.

"He's- Er- A new friend, John..." Rose said sheepishly.  
She knew what her mum would ask.

"John? As in, John Noble?" Jackie asked in a surprised voice and Rose cringed.

"Yes" she finally breathed out.

Her mum excitement showed completely.  
"How? When did you talk to him?"

"I didn't talk to him, he spoke to me. Today." She said, leaving out the conversation at the competition.

"And you're just friends?" Jackie asked maliciously.

Rose nodded and, just as her mum was opening her mouth again, came her brother's whine.  
"Rooooose!"

"'M coming Tony!" She said, shrugging unapologetically at her mum and running towards her brother's playing room.  
"Hey!" She exclaimed, picking him up as he run to her.

"Rose, who was that?" He asked in her ear.

She watched him in the eyes and whispered "A new friend of mine. If you want you can meet him, some time.." She said, hoping that she hasn't just lied to her brother: she wanted it to be true.

"'Kay. He seems funny" he told her in a conspiratorial way.

* * *

 **John got home and, leaving the umbrella next to the door, he rushed to his and Jack's room to change.**  
 **Strangely enough Jack was in the library, but this meant he could change without any bother.**

 **When he could feel his toes again, he picked up his books and made his way to his brother.**  
 **He said a quick "Hi" and sat down at his desk.**

 **"Been busy with the team's chicks?" Jack asked mischievously.**

 **John didn't answer him, just sat still and started on his homework.**  
 **He tried reading the same page for the hundredth time, but the only thing his mind kept seeing was Rose. The sweet way she talked with her brother, her laugh, their run, how much fun she was, her special smile...**

 **"Oi spaceman! Whose umbrella is this?" His sister's voice broke through his daydream.**

 **"Hm, what?" He asked, dumbfounded.**

 **"Who gave you this?" She asked, holding the rainbow umbrella up to him.**

 **He scratched his head.**  
 **"Ehm... A friend..." He said, trying to sound convincing.**

 **His siblings gave him a look that screamed "Come on, spill!" and he sighed, defeated, slumping on his chair.**  
 **"It's Rose's" Jack had a surprised look, but realization dawned on Donna.**

 **"That Rose?"**

 **"Who is Rose?" Both said simultaneously.**

 **Jack looked suspiciously at Donna.**  
 **"Is she your girlfriend?!" Jack snapped.**

 **"What?! No!" Rushed John.**  
 **Then, after a deep breath "Yes Donna, that Rose. Jack, she's one of my teammates. I've wanted to talk to her for a while."**

 **Jack opened his mouth to speak, but it wasn't his voice who spoke.**  
 **"Oh, and I get that now you spoke to her."**

 **John put his head in his hands and groaned.**  
 **Great!**  
 **Now his mum knew too.**

* * *

After dinner, Rose went to her room, worn out by the day.  
She was still thinking about John. He had been nice and kind...  
He also told her his nickname, and he hadn't told it to their teammates, or either they would have called him that.  
She still felt giddy and fuzzy from earlier.  
She laid in her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest, and fell asleep, lulled by her feelings and the memories of her afternoon.

* * *

 **Exhausted John dropped to his bed, moaning in relief when the soft surface hit his back.**

 **"Stop thinking about Rose. Or do it quietly." Came the snarky remark from Jack-the-King-of-innuendos-Noble.**

 **John grunted in protest. He loved dearly his brother, but sometimes his mind could really be one-tracked.**  
 **He wasn't thinking about Rose that way. Yet.**  
 **Okay, he was, but not in that _that_ way.**  
 **He was intrigued by her, he wanted to get to know her, to be his friend.**

 **Yeah, her pink tongue and full lips sometimes attracted his stare, but she was a beautiful being, inside out.**  
 **He closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn't wait to see her tomorrow.**

* * *

 **Reviews make my day!**


	5. Her worst day (or not?)

**AN: Hey! I'm back! And only one day late, yay! :D  
** **I'm sorry, but life is getting in the way aaand...yeah. I can't assure you I'll be on time either next week..:/  
** **I really hope you're gonna like this chapter and if you do, please tell me :)**

 **As always, many thanks to the kind** EmilyAndTheDiamonds **! :)**

* * *

This had to be one of the worst days of her life.

First, in the morning at school, she failed three mock exams out of four. Then her friends had told her she was boring because she never went out anymore, she didn't drink (or rather, she didn't get so drunk she didn't remember her own name), that she was always complaining and that they were done with her. If she changed, they would welcome her back, they told her. What nice friends she had picked.

And to add to it all now, at training, her coach had told her she was a disappointment, that she had to be faster than this.  
Tears were burning in her eyes, even inside her googles, while she swam the last lane. She'd just say her goggles were leaking. Rose climbed out of the water and hastily took off her swim cap, turning towards the door. The only thing she needed now was the privacy of her bedroom so she could cry.

* * *

 **John had seen Rose a couple of times while swimming. She seemed upset.**  
 **He had wanted to talk to her, but she arrived late and then she was too far behind him to talk to her.**

 **They had just finished a session and he was talking with Mickey and Jack when he caught a glimpse of blonde hair.**  
 **John rattled out a "Go ahead," then quietly mumbled "I'll come soon" before turned around, rushing after Rose, ignoring Martha and Reinette that were clearly lurking around to try and talk to him.**  
 **"Rose!" he called her to stop her since she was already at the door.**

 **He saw her tense up, hesitate a second and then go on walking.**  
 **Determined to get to her and to know what was wrong, he walk as fast as he could without slipping on the wet floor .**  
 **John had reached her when disaster struck. He slipped. He fell ungracefully on his backside.**  
 **Rose then turned around and giggled at the view.**

 **Although his face remained offended, he felt satisfaction and worry run through him at once: he had succeeded in putting a smile on her face when she was obviously quite distressed.**  
 **She extended her hand helping him up while asking "You okay?" with a giggle.**

 **He pouted but nodded affirmatively.**  
 **Then, when he was standing in front of her, he added "Are you okay?", his expression serious.**  
 **Rose turned her head down and shuffled her feet.**  
 **"I'm alright.." she whispered, her voice breaking.**

 **Someone saying "Sorry..." broke them apart, but John took Rose's hand, preventing her escape and leading her to the bleachers, in a corner a little secluded.**  
 **Once away from others, John looked Rose in the eyes.**  
 **"What's wrong?" he asked softly.**

 **Rose was still tense, but after a deep breath she answered.**  
 **"Just a bad day, 's all.."**  
 **Her eyes were downcast and she tried to suppress a shiver.**

 **"Are you cold?" He asked worriedly.**  
 **Rose nodded awkwardly and John said quickly "Wait here!", before rushing to his bag. In front of the changing room he turned around and mouthed a "Please" before going inside. Just so he didn't seem too eager...**

 **"Hey, mate, you coming or not?" Mickey asked John from behind.**

 **"Nah, sorry bud, go ahead. See you tomorrow." He said, not even looking up from his bag.**  
 **When he finally found the towel he rushed back, ignoring his teammate's curious stare.**  
 **Stumbling out the doors he breathed out in relief. Rose was still there.**  
 **He walked again to her and wrapped his towel around her.**  
 **She breathed in before whispering a "Thanks". He sat down next to her and said gently "No problem".**

 **Then he tried again.**  
 **"You want to tell me what happened?"**  
 **Rose took a sharp breath, then let it out slowly.**  
 **"I'm sure you don't want to hear me complaining..." She breathed out.**

 **John was puzzled. Did she feel like she didn't have a right to complain?**  
 **"No Rose, I asked because I want you to tell me. I promise I don't mind." He tried in his most convincing and soft voice.**  
 **When he saw she was still hesitant, he covered her hand with his.**  
 **"Come on.."**  
 **This seemed to do it.**

 **"'s just... Well, today started off badly. I completely failed three tests. That would have been okay, I mean, I'll get shouted at and a lot of people will be disappointed in me but they were only mocks so it's not the end of the world... But after my friends they...they.." She stammered, incapable of continuing, her eyes watering.**

 **He gently squeezed her hand and prompted "Your friends? What did they do?"**  
 **She shook her head.**  
 **"They told me I'm boring. That I'm not a good friend and that they don't want me as their friends anymore." She said, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling and not wanting to see John's reaction.**

 **The boy, instead, felt anger rise inside of him: How could they be her friends and treat her like that?**  
 **He was trying to collect himself, not wanting to show his anger, when her small voice broke the silence again.**

 **"I'm just a disappointment to everybody... I'm not good enough as a friend, I'm not fast enough, I can't go well even at school! I'm just not enough..." She rushed out, her voice shaky and getting a little more red in the face.**

 **John couldn't believe his ears! She was the most beautiful human being he had ever seen and known, and he didn't even know her that well!**  
 **He let go of her hand and cupped her chin, turning his head up and focusing his eyes in hers. On her face he could see the track of the tears that were still falling down on her cheeks and her warm honey eyes were red and puffy.**  
 **He slowly stroked away her tears with his thumb.**  
 **"Hey, listen, don't let anybody make you believe that. Never ever. You are enough. Bloody hell, you're more than enough! You're brilliant! You bring light wherever you go, I just got to know you and I already look forward to seeing you everyday. I'm sorry your friends are being morons - sorry but it's the truth - and I would probably punch them if they were here. Since they treated you like this they don't deserve you and your fantastic, adorable self." John let his gob go and spoke his mind. He didn't even regret it. He did however, not actually believe he'd said it... His mind started to catch up to him then. God he was so stupid! He had just made a fool of himself. Good job.**

 **His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by two arms that wound around his neck and a choked sob. He was surprised for a couple of seconds, then he forced himself out of his stupor and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back in soothing motions.**  
 **She didn't make any sound, just cried silently for a bit, then she whispered a "Thank you, again" on his neck.**

 **John shuddered for the sensation and answered "No problem, again.", echoing her and making her chuckle.**  
 **The sound reverberated through her and to him making him tremble once again, enjoying the moment.**  
 **"You're cold.." She said, taking her head off his shoulder and looking at his face.**

 **He made a face and said "N-Yeah, a bit…" he said, looking embarrassed.**  
 **She disentangled her arms from around his neck and stood up. (Was that a disappointed sound coming from him?! Damn..)**  
 **But then she took his hand and tugged him up. He willingly followed her and, once it was time to part and go to the changing rooms, she turned around, opening her mouth to speak but he beat her to it.**

 **"Can I walk you home?" he asked, putting on his best puppy face.**  
 **The wide grin on her face was breathtaking.**  
 **"Well if you insist…" She said, clearly faking indifference.**

 **"Okay, then I'll wait out for you" He said eagerly.**  
 **Rose only nodded in response, a wide grin stretching her face.**  
 **He squeezed her hand and walked backwards towards the door, hitting it with his head (and saying a "ouch" that echoed around the pool and made her laugh).**  
 **Then, he waved at her and turned around.**

* * *

 **"Damn." was the first thing he heard her say out of the changing room.**

 **"What's up?" he asked curiously.**  
 **Rose huffed.**  
 **"My mum. She wants to know where I am, why I am late, blah blah.." she said, rushing towards him.**  
 **"Well, let's go then. We'll get there quickly." John said with an easy smile, holding the door open for her.**  
 **"Ugh, I'm sorry, she's always like this…" rattled on Rose.**  
 **"It's okay. If you want I can tell her it's my fault."**  
 **"No, it's not your fault, you shouldn't make her mad." She brushed him off, but John was stubborn.**  
 **"No, actually, it is my fault. So I might as well save you some trouble. I can use the excuse of giving you back the umbrella." John reasoned.**  
 **"Would you really do that?" She asked surprised.**  
 **"Of course! And I'm gonna." He answered smiling.**  
 **Rose whispered a moved "Thank you" and everything was silent for a while.**

 **"I still don't know how to tell her about my terrible grades." She sighed, then added "Oh god, I'm sorry. I'm always complaining...Sorry…"**  
 **John took her hand and squeezed it.**  
 **"No, hey, it's really okay. I don't mind."**  
 **Rose nodded and sighed.**

 **"Which subjects are your problem? If you don't mind me asking…" he said, an idea suddenly striking him.**  
 **"Math, Physics and Science. I'm usually not that bad, at least not in science, but…"**  
 **John couldn't believe his luck! Now he could put his plan into motion.**  
 **"Well, you know, not to brag but I'm pretty good in said subjects." He said blushing and tugging at his ear. "If you want I could maybe help you with it...If you want obviously…" He continued, suddenly doubting himself.**  
 **Rose pondered for a second the offer.**  
 **"Are you sure?" she asked incredulously.**  
 **"Of course! Wouldn't be a problem at all!" he said excited.**  
 **"Well, it would really help if sometime you could help me out, then.." she said with a shy smile.**  
 **"Then we have a deal!"**  
 **"You bet. Now you're stuck with me. Where do I sign up?" she teased.**  
 **The Doctor couldn't help but reply: "Stuck with you? Not so bad", although he regretted saying it immediately.**  
 **But, after a sheepish look at her face, he decided it was worth it: an amazing smile stretched her face.**

 **They were nearing the house,**  
 **"Maybe we should exchange phone numbers?" He asked after mustering all his courage.**  
 **"Yeah, that's a great idea." She smiled gently, taking out her phone.**  
 **John mirrored her actions, reaching in his pockets, but he remembered he had left it at home.**  
 **"Eeh..yeah…'xept I seem to have left my phone at home." He said looking somewhat embarrassed.**  
 **Rose laughed softly and said "No problem, gonna call you and you'll save the number when you get home" She added with a wink.**  
 **"Brilliant!" He smiled and squeezed her hand again (Wait, was he still holding her hand?).**  
 **Finally, they arrived at her house and John slowly followed her. Rose stopped in front of her door and turned around.**  
 **"You sure?" She asked. He only smiled and nodded.**  
 **Rose turned around, took a deep breath and opened the door.**


	6. The Big Bad Mum

**AN: Hi folks! Here's a shiny new chapter for you (quite a shippy one) :D  
In the second part there's quite an alternation between **Rose's **and Jack's pov, and the single reversed commas (** **'...** **') are for texts.  
Help me lift my mood 'cause I'm quite fed up at the moment  
No, okay sorry, don't mean to always complain.**

 **The chapter's title is a poetic idea of** EmilyAndTheDiamonds, **that I thank immensely for the help she's giving me ;)**

* * *

Immediately came Jackie's shouts.  
"Rose! Where have you been?! I was worried sick!"  
"Mum-..." Rose tried to stop her.  
"And you didn't even answer my call! I was going-.."  
"Mum!" She tried again but her older blonde didn't even blink.  
"to call your dad! You know what he-" But Jackie finally stopped, having come down the stairs and seeing the dumbstruck teenage boy standing next to her Rose.  
Rose sighed.  
"Mum, this is my friend John. John, this is my mum." She said in a half embarrassed, half defeated voice. Why did her mum always have to be like this?  
John was the first one to overcome the shock and took a step forward, extending his hand.  
"Miss Tyler, it's a pleasure to meet you. I insisted in coming here to excuse my behaviour, it's my fault if Rose is late and also for her not answering your calls." He said, using his most polite words.  
Jackie glared suspiciously at him, while Rose was having a hard time keeping a straight face.  
"Were you two doing... Dodgy things?" Finally asked Jackie.  
"What's..? No!" They both answered simultaneously, blushing.  
"We were just talking, I promise"  
"I'll slap the pair of you in to next week if you were..." Jackie said, still not convinced but she nodded before looking at Rose for a change.  
After some beats of awkward silence, John coughed and took out the umbrella, handing it to Rose.  
"Well, thank you for this... I guess I'll get going" he said with a small smile.  
"Do you want cuppa? Tea or something?" Said Jackie, feeling guilty because of her rudeness.  
"No, no it's okay. My homework is waiting for me. Thank you, though." He said with his most charming smile.

Rose and him turned around and, after she opened the door, he stepped outside.  
"See you tomorrow?" John asked.  
Rose let the warm feeling set in her stomach and answered positively with a small smile.  
They both said goodbye and the girl once again watched him go away, blushing when he turned around and smirked as soon as he caught her stare.

Closing the door she met her mother's face.  
"So.."

* * *

 **John entered his house, went to his room running and immediately took his phone from the nightstand.**  
 **"Woah, what's with the rush?" Jack asked, making John jump because he hadn't seen him.**  
 **He rolled his eyes, unplugged the mobile and went to the living room, flopping down on the couch and sighing.**

 **John unlocked the phone and, seeing a missed call, immediately saved the number. "Rose" would do for now. He could add all relevant cute nicknames and otherwise relevant information at a later date.**  
 **In the giddiness of the moment, he wrote to her 'Hey, it's John', put the phone on his chest and closed his eyes, remembering the smile of a certain blonde girl.**  
 **After several beats, his phone finally ringed.**  
'Hey Doctah!'  
 **John toyed with the idea of answering before acting on impulse.**  
 **'How did it go?' He typed, then sent, tensing up: Was it too soon?**

Rose breathed out when her phone trilled again. She had feared the nickname had been too much.  
'With my mum? well enough. she said u better be rlly good at science'

 **John laughed when he read the message.**  
 **'I am. Trust me, I'm the Doctor.' He grinned hitting send. This was going brilliant!**

The girl rolled her eyes.  
'Modest, much? and btw, what was that "i insisted in blah blah"? lol' She sent back.

 **John's smile stretched even further.**  
 **'Idk but it worked, didn't it?' he wrote proudly.**  
 **In that moment Donna entered the room, giving him a knowing look.**  
 **"What?" He asked sheepishly.**  
 **"Rose, huh?" She said knowingly. There wasn't even a need for an interrogation.**  
 **John looked dumbfounded"No-wh-why-how?!"**  
 **Donna looked offended "Oi Spaceman! I know you!"**  
 **John just blushed, grinned and nodded all at once.**  
 **"Tell her I say hi and that I want to get to know her. She must be good if you're so in love with her" She called while exiting the room again.**

'Yeah it did. Ta for that…' Rose sent sheepishly.

 **The boy smiled softly at the screen 'It wasn't a problem at all. Anything for you. Oh, btw, my sister says hi and that she wants to get to know you.' Best leave off the last part, John thought.**

Rose's heart fluttered reading the sweet words. She felt like hell for the bad grades and because of her friends, but this made it a little better. He made it a little better.  
'Well, I kinda promised Tony he could meet u so..guess we're even. oh and say hi back to her and that I look forward to meeting her!' Rose typed as fast as she could.

 **John was surprised at the confession: she had promised her little brother he could meet him? Woah..**  
 **"Donna! Rose says hi and that she looks forward to meeting you!" He shouted, still lying on the couch.**  
 **Jack's voice came downstairs instead of Donna's "Can I meet her too?"**  
 **The lanky teenagers stomach knotted at the thought. So he could steal her from him?! Never in a million years!**  
 **"No!" He said decisively.**  
 **He ignored the pouting sounds and texted back 'Of course! But I won't make you meet Jack. No.'**

Rose laughed imagining John's pouting face. How had she gotten in so deep so soon?  
'Why?' She sent biting her lower lip.

 **John sighed: How could he put it without sounding too jealous?**  
 **'Well, he's...' he sent without saying anything.**  
 **How could he not sound jealous? He was, damn!**

Rose frowned: What was that? He didn't say anything!  
"Rose, why are you making that face?" Tony asked her.  
Rose, looking up from the screen, locked eyes with her brother.  
"Nothing, I just don't know what my friend means.. Nothing to worry about." she smiled.  
Tony shrugged and went back to playing with his toys.  
'He's what?'

 **John exhaled. Time to tell the truth.**  
 **'Promise not to laugh at me?'**

The girl was once again confused.  
'Yes…?'

 **'He'sfunnyandeverythingI'mnotandI'mworriedyou'lllikehimmorethanme' He sent holding his breath.**

Aww, she thought when she managed to read the message.  
He was envious of his brother (she couldn't understand why, though).  
And he was jealous of her. She couldn't believe this. How did he even manage to type that fast that he didn't even press the space bar but managed to get every apostrophe in the right place?  
When the shock wore off, she typed in her answer quickly.  
'I'm sure you got nothing to worry about ;)'

 **John finally let out the breath he was holding: she was reassuring him. Wow…**  
 **'Not sure but thank you...'**  
 **What a beautiful being she was.**

Rose pouted and wondered how he could think that.  
'Trust me. I know you have nothing to envy your brother for.'

 **John was shocked: Did she really believe that? He couldn't believe it.**  
 **"John! It's well past bedtime, mister!" He heard his mum shout from downstairs and rolled his eyes. He wasn't a child anymore!**  
 **"Yes I'm going!" he shouted back.**  
 **'I don't know what to say. Really. Thank you. I'm really sorry, but now I gotta go...See you tomorrow?'**

Rose was partly disappointed and partly relieved. She was falling asleep, but she really liked texting him.  
'Kay...course... g'night' She barely managed to type and send before falling asleep to dreams of brown eyes and toothy grins and spiky hair.

 **John duelled for a second with why she answered like that, then put it down to sleepiness. It was pretty late.**  
 **He slipped under the blanket, still clutching his phone.**  
 **'Have sweet dreams, Rose Tyler. I can't wait to see you tomorrow' he sent before realizing what he had written. Damned sleepiness. Oh well, what's done is done, he thought.**  
 **"You gonna keep that up all night?" Came the snarky voice of his brother.**  
 **John sighed. Jack without sleep was really insufferable.**  
 **He put the phone on the nightstand and laid back on the bed.**  
 **His mind slipped back to Rose as he was on the verge of unconsciousness.**  
 **He was intoxicated by her. He was already addicted to her.**  
 **He had known he was in trouble from the beginning.**

* * *

 **What do you think? :DD**


	7. A fandom to share

**AN: Hey there! Sorry for the day lateness..I have a very busy weekend and I just had a free moment, so I decided to post ;)**  
 **So, this is an interesting chapter, although I've had multiple internal struggles writing it.**  
 **As always, an enormous thank you to EmilyAndTheDiamonds for betaing.**  
 **Last but not least: reviews make my afternoon/day/week/life? :)**

* * *

Rose walked cheerfully to the pool, today had been definitely a better day then yesterday, at least so far.  
She had woken up to a beautiful and heartwarming text, at school she had managed to avoid her «friends» and she had already asked her teachers when and how she could repair her bad grades.

She opened the door with a smile, strangely enough on time too.  
When she saw a head of wild hair in the room, her smile widened. The Doctor was leaning against a wall, talking with a couple of blokes, and when she had entered, his smile had lightened up the whole room.  
He immediately stopped talking and walked up to her, so instinctively she opened her arms and wrapped him in a hug. He seemed taken aback for a second, then wrapped his arms around her shoulders.  
"Hello.." He whispered in her ear.  
"Hi..." She answered letting him go.  
He looked down at her face "Happy, much?" He teased.  
"Actually, yes. Had a good day" she bit back.  
He smiled sweetly "I'm glad."  
They stared in each other's eyes, but a loud voice interrupted them.

"John, you coming? We're gonna be late!"  
John nodded reluctantly and, with an apologetically smile, said "See you later? I'll walk you home"  
Her heart fluttered at his words and she nodded eagerly "Yeah, see you later".

* * *

 **After training John showered quickly: he wanted to be out before Rose, he couldn't make her wait for him!**  
 **He was toweling his hair when Mickey approached him.**  
 **"Hey bud"**  
 **"Hi Mick!" John smiled at his teammate.**  
 **"Listen...What's happening? You almost never spend time with us before and after training anymore and you always somehow run away without any explanation. Have we done something wrong?" He said, somehow worriedly.**  
 **John listened guiltily: he hadn't noticed he had "abandoned" his friends quite often lately.**  
 **"No, you've done nothing wrong…" He sighed. He should probably tell them the truth, or they'd eventually find out anyway.**  
 **"It's just...there's this girl I've just become friends with and well…That's the reason I disappeared sometimes lately."**  
 **Mickey's face was surprised and a bit offended "Oh, so for a girl you just abandon your best mates" He accused his mate.**  
 **"No, of course not! Listen Mick, I'm sorry. Honestly, I hadn't even noticed I had done this until you told me, so I'm really sorry, okay? I'll try my best to spend time with you all again, I'll organize my time better, I promise."**  
 **Mickey's face was surprised but understanding "Okay John, but you better hang on that promise." Mickey said sternly.**  
 **Then, as a second thought, he added "She must really be some girl to make you forget about your friends" He half-joked.**  
 **John only smiled, but the only thought in his head was «you have no idea how right you are.»**

* * *

"Stupid muggles!" She muttered under her breath when a car drove into a puddle and splashed the water all around the street and on her.  
John stopped his babbling and stared at her wide-eyed.  
"What?" Asked Rose, self-consciously.  
"What did you say?" He asked still bewildered.  
"Uh, nothing!" She said hurriedly: he didn't need to know she was a big ol' HP geek.  
"N'aww, come on!" He whined.  
Rose sighed: now she had to tell him.  
"I said 'stupid muggles'" She said, her eyes downcast and her cheeks red.  
Then she waited for the inevitable "What,s a muggle?", but it never came. She looked up and found him as if he was still processing the thing.  
"You are a potterhead too?" He asked excited.  
"Of course I am! Harry Potter is just brilliant!" Rose answered truthfully.  
"And did you read them all?" He said gleefully.  
"I'm at the sixth, what about you?"  
His eyes lit up "I just finished the fifth!"  
Rose beamed: she couldn't believe he was a potterhead. A crazy idea passed through her mind.  
"I just had a mad idea. Wanna hear it?" She said mischievously.  
"Of course" John replied conspiratorially.  
"If you want, when we're both finished with the sixth, we could start over from the first together and read them all to the seventh." She proposed, looking a tad sheepish.  
The excitement on his face was obvious:p "Oh yes! That's brilliant! Let's do it!"  
Rose beamed at him and nodded.  
Adrenaline running through him, he took her hand and squeezed it. Both giggled.

Just then, Rose's house came into view and she suddenly remembered something "Oh, I almost forgot... Are you still up for that tutoring? 'Cause I need to fix those grades..."  
He looked at her "Of course! We just need to decide the day" He said with a smile.  
"Perfect! Is it tomorrow okay for you or is it too late to ask now?" She asked timidly.  
"Mmh, yeah, should be. Let me just check my planner when I get home and I'll send you the ok!" he grinned.  
Rose blushed and nodded.  
"How... How much should I pay you?" She asked in a small voice.  
John looked confused, then he understood what she meant.  
"Oh, no, no! You don't need to pay anything! I volunteered for it, so really, I'll do it for free" He said with a easy smile.  
Rose looked surprised "Are you sure?"  
By then they had stopped in front of her house. They turned to each other and the kind smile he directed to her gave her butterflies.  
"Of course. It'll be a pleasure for me" John said squeezing her hand (were them still holding hands? It felt so natural, as if they've always been doing this).  
Once again on impulse (damn, she should control herself) she wounded her arms around his neck, pressed a kiss to his cheek and whispered a "Thank you".  
 **To say John was surprised was an understatement: he felt his cheeks burn and his heart was pounding in his ears.**  
 **The shrill ringtone of her phone sprang them in action and she looked at her phone before sighing.**  
"Bye John...See you tomorrow?" She asked hopeful.  
"Not if I see you first." He answered cheekily.

As he watched her leave, both were thinking the same thing: How did they get so intimate and dependent on each other so fast?


	8. Tutoring

**AN: Hey there! Posting now because it's the only free time in this hell of a weekend (not that anybody would notice if I didn't post but yeah).  
I must admit I had some difficulties writing this chapter but I managed in the end!  
I hope you like it and, as always, reviews are more than welcome ;)**

* * *

 **It was the first tutoring day.  
** **To say John was excited was an understatement. He was going to help Rose. Rose Tyler!  
** **Cheerily, he walked the short path to her house and knocked on the glass pane of her front door.  
** **His smile faltered a bit when instead of the beautiful (John stop!) face of Rose he found the older, icy eyes of her mother (Christ, was she scary) opening the door.  
** **"Good morning, ma'am" John said politely.  
** **"Hi. What are you doing here?" Jackie asked suspiciously.  
** **"I'm here for that tutoring thing with Rose" He explained with his most charming smile.  
** **"Oh, right" She too smiled, if somewhat more maliciously, and John was confused by this sudden change.  
** **"I'll call her for you. Come inside!" She added.**

 **Cautiously, he made his way in the house. He'd never really been inside before, so he stayed awkwardly in the entrance, looking around.  
** **"Hey" He heard from the stairs and looked up to a rushing Rose.  
** **"Hey.." He said back, smiling down at her face while she was still out of breath.  
** **She smiled up at him in answer.  
** **"Come with me" She said cheerily and led him to the living room.  
** **Looking around, John saw a big couch in front of a TV and a box of toys on the left, while on the right there was a table for six and some paintings hang from the wall.  
** **"I thought we could stay here, if it's okay with you.." Rose said quietly when they reached the table.  
** **"Of course!" He answered with a smile.  
** **They sat next to each other at the table and Rose opened her book.  
** **John's face lit up when he saw the subject: science! Oh, he loved science.**

* * *

 **"...and this is why we can say that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell" he finished with a smile.  
** **The answering grin on Rose's face was the best reward he could have asked for.  
** **"I can't believe I didn't get it before! You're really good at this, you know?" She exclaimed with a laugh.  
** **"Well, yeah..I'm brilliant at most things, so..." He smirked.  
** **This remark costed him a punch on the shoulder.  
** **"Oh, you think you're so impressive." She teased.  
** **"I am so impressive." He pouted, barely repressing a smirk.**

 **Their bantering was interrupted by Jackie's entrance.  
** **"I brought tea and biscuits" She said with a smile.  
** **Rose looked suspiciously at her mum: she was acting strangely kind.  
** **"Thank you, mum" Rose said and tried to take the tray from her hands, but Jackie moved it out of her reach, sitting at the table in front of them.  
** **"So, John. How old are you?" Jackie asked.  
** **John sensed that it was questioning time.  
** **"I'm eighteen."  
** **"Really? I would have said you were younger."  
** **"Well, without the beard.." He smirked.  
** **Jackie looked put out for a second, but then opened her mouth for a remark, only to be cut off by Rose.  
** **"Mum, stop it with the questions. He's a good teacher and if you'll leave him alone maybe I'll be able to fix my grades." She said, annoyed by her mum intrusion.  
** **Jackie huffed.  
** **"Okay, okay... I'll leave you two alone" She spoke, before getting up and going out of the room.  
** **"Yeah, like you won't be out of the door listening" Rose muttered under her breath.  
** **John snorted, then talked "Thank you for saving me." He said with a grin.  
** **"Oh, no, don't worry. I'm sorry for my mum.."  
** **How darn cute was she?!  
** **"No problem" he stuttered out instead.**

 **They sipped their tea in companionable silence, then Rose spoke up " You know, not to be nosy, but I just realized...I don't really know a lot about you.."  
** **John kept his eyes on the mug.  
** **"Same goes for you" He muttered  
** **"Yeah, you're probably right.."  
** **They stayed silent for some minutes, then a light went off in John's head.  
** **"Know what? I'm gonna ask you random questions whenever they come to my mind and you can answer if you want. And you can also do the same, of course!"  
** **Rose grinned at the idea and nodded.**

 **After that, silence lasted only seconds.  
** **"Favourite colour?" Asked Rose, turning towards him conspiratorially.  
** **He turned to her in the same way and smirked.  
** **"Blue. Favourite band?"  
** **"Fall Out Boy. Favorite subject?"  
** **John made a half-confused face.  
** **"Who are they? Science, anyway." He added with a smirk.  
** **"An American pop/punk group. I would have never guessed" She teased with a tongue-touched smile and John's breath itched in his chest.  
** **That pink flash was surely becoming his new favorite addiction.  
** **"Well it's not my fault science is so interesting and satisfying!" He defended. Then asked " Favourite food?"  
** **Rose, that had made a bored face when he had described science, lightened up at the mention of food.  
** **"Chips! They're the best food in the world." She said excitedly.  
** **"Come, now. That's debatable." John replied diplomatically.  
** **Rose looked at him as if he was an alien.  
** **"What in the whole Universe could be better than chips?!"  
** **"Well, I wouldn't know about the Universe, there could be thousands of great foods out there... But sticking to Earth, I'd say pizza is a good pick." he said with faked diplomacy.  
** **"John Noble, you just said the most disrespectful thing and I shouldn't talk to you because of this, but, since I'm an amazing and forgiving person, I'll give you a second chance." Rose said with an affronted face, but the mirth in her expression was evident.  
** **The boy just laughed in response and shook his head and soon Rose joined him.  
** **When they both calmed down, the girl had a question in her eyes.  
** **"Do you think aliens exist?" She asked after some hesitation.  
** **John was surprised by the thoughtful question. He hadn't expected anything like this after their earlier conversation.  
** **"Well of course! The Universe is full of life and traditions, of aliens as intelligent as us or maybe more, who knows… But they definitely exist." He finished surely, then watched the reaction on Rose's face: she seemed surprised by such a strong answer. Had he gotten carried away?  
** **"What about you?" He asked her, almost trying to amend.  
** **"Well, I hadn't put much thought in it until now. But I gotta admit, you seem so convinced of what you're saying that i'm almost sure too." She admitted shyly.  
** **"Well, the universe is too big for us to be alone, isn't it?" He smiled.  
** **Rose just nodded silently, smiling gently.**

 **She was looking at her cup as if it held the answers to all questions, but John could see she was turning a question in her mind, as if she was afraid to ask it.  
** **He was almost opening his mouth to ask her about it, when she lifted her head with a determined look on her face.  
** **"How did you know my name?" She asked with a resolution he had never seen in her and quickly understood why; she was hiding her fear and insecurities.  
** **"Well, some things are better left unsaid, aren't them?" He asked lifting his eyebrow in a cocky manner: it was too soon to tell her.  
** **Rose pouted.  
** **"Come ooon John!"  
** **"Your pouting is not going to take you anywhere." Although that lower lip looked just plain perfect and if he just-John focus!  
** Rose shivered slightly. Had he been staring to her lips? Or was it just her imagination? Maybe she could try to press on.  
"Then at least tell me, why did you come to talk to me that day?" She asked staring straight into his eyes, almost daring him to deflect the answer once again (and having a hard time not losing herself in them).  
 **John stared ahead of him dumbfounded. Had she really just asked him that? He Couldn't not answer a question like that! He shouldn't reveal too much, though. He opened his mouth, ready to talk-**

 **"Rose! Rose!" Shouted a little bundle running to his companion.  
** **John could see the disappointment on Rose's face when she forced a smile on her face and opened her arms to her little brother.  
** **"Hey there bud!" She said softly, hugging him to herself and ruffling gently his hair.  
** **"Did you see that we have guests?" She asked in a whisper, loud enough for John to hear but soft as if she was telling a secret.  
** **He watched fascinated as the little blonde head nodded and whispered back "He's the friend you should make me meet?" Little Tony asked quietly, glancing suspiciously at the teenager.  
** **John had a hard time keeping from laughing but managed somehow.  
** **"Yeah. So how do you greet a new person?" She smiled at him again and the small boy nodded before turning around.  
** **Surprising John, Tony stuck his hand out and had his back ramrod straight.  
** **"Tony Tyler. Nice to meet you."  
** **After the initial shock, the young man shook the hand of the smaller one.  
** **"Hi Tony, I'm John, John Noble. You seem really cool!" He tried, not really sure on how to behave.  
** **"I like him!" Tony said, turning to his sister and both teenagers looked each other in the eye and exploded in laughter.**

* * *

 **Rose and John were at the door, the latter already in his coat and ready to leave.  
** **"Well, i'd say it was it was a productive, fun try all in all. Right?" John said tentatively.  
** **"Yeah, I surely know more about biology than I did three hours ago" Rose winked.  
** **John reminded himself to breath normally and grinned in answer.  
** **After a deep breath Rose whispered embarrassed "Sorry 'bout my mum..and my brother too".  
** **"Oh, no need to apologize. Your brother is really lovely and your mum, well…" He leaned in to whisper "She's a bit scary" and then leaned back again "She was really kind."  
** **Rose laughed at the confession and just smiled.**

 **«Now or never» thought John, remembering the disappointment on his friend's face and taking a deep breath.  
** "That day I came to talk to you because.. Because I'd wanted to do it for a while and you seemed so alone and dejected I just couldn't leave you there." He whispered.  
Rose's breath itched: he'd said it. And what hell of a reason…!  
After the initial shock wore off, Rose smiled widely and hugged him briefly.  
 **"Well, thank you for being brave enough for both." She answered and he just grinned his lopsided grin.  
** **"My pleasure." He replied truthfully.  
** **"I really should go, though. My mum is probably waiting for me to serve dinner and if I arrive late Donna will kill me" He said with a sorry expression.  
** "Oh, I don't want to be the reason for your homicide! Go on, have a great dinner" she smiled again (had she ever smiled that much in a single afternoon?) and opened the door.  
 **John turned around and made a mock-salute, before taking a step outside.  
** **"See ya, Rose Tyler." He stuttered out, grinning.  
** **"See you soon Doctor" she answered,and the last thing he saw before the door closed was a glimpse of her special tongue touched smile.**

 **He groaned softly. Seemed like he was going to have another night full of Rose Tyler, this time filled not only by yellow hair but also pink glimpses of tongue.**


	9. Someone new

**AN: Hey everybody! I'm so, really sorry for the lateness, really.  
** **The reasons are various: first of all life (school and everything) got in the way; secondly, I had a hard time writing this chapter.  
** **I NEEDED one more character but could find none from Doctor Who that I was comfortable writing with, so… Here comes the part you may not like..  
** **I decided to add an Original Character, Time, that** TiliaofAnkh **so kindly borrowed (thank youuuuu).  
** **I know and understand the resentment that people sometimes has for stories with OCs, but I can promise she won't take up too much of the space (she's actually needed for the development of the story), and she also fits perfectly the role, so.  
** **I hope you won't be discouraged from reading because of this…  
** **I'm sorry for all these chaos, again..**

 **PS: I know this is short and there's really little Rose/John interaction, but I promise next chapter will be soon up and full of that!**

* * *

"..you did an impressive job, so you have fixed your grades." Finished Rose's biology teacher in her usual nasally voice.  
Rose barely repressed her glee going back to her desk, paper in hand. She couldn't believe it; John's tutoring lessons had really helped!  
She looked around and saw a girl looking disappointed at her test. She understood the feeling all too well and couldn't stand that sad expression on her face.  
"It's going to be better next time" Rose reassured the brown head next to her.

When she only received a shrug of shoulders as an answer, she glanced a second time at the girl: Rose had never really noticed her before, but she was quite sure she had always been here. Must have been too busy with her 'friends' to notice her.. Well, whatever, she had a mission at the moment.

Feeling bold, she slowly took her phone out of her backpack and, checking to be unseen, wrote a quick text.  
«I did it! I passed the test!» she typed in and then lost herself looking at John's profile picture.  
"The teacher's coming." She heard in a raspy, unfamiliar whisper.  
Rose hastily covered her mobile with a book and pretended to be looking at her test.

With the danger of her phone being confiscated swiftly avoided, Rose glanced again at the small girl, who was still with her head down looking at the test. "Thank you" The blonde said, meaning it.  
"Oh, no problem. I wouldn't try that again though."  
Rose was a little taken aback at the girl's harsh words and her grim voice. The chestnut haired girl seemed to see her reaction and quickly pressed her lips together, looking away.  
"Well, it was nice .." Rose said.  
The stranger this time lifted her head and Rose's breath itched in surprise: the girl's oval face, framed by shoulder length hair (and a side-swept fringe which stood out for its deep dark red color), was completed by freckled cheeks and nose and by the most gorgeous eyes she'd ever seen. And no, she wasn't exaggerating: almost black on the outside, the color gradually switched to blue and the closer to the pupil you got, the brighter the blue was. Not only that, but the darker zones were dotted with a light blue shade. It was like staring at a starry night.

Then Rose felt her phone vibrate and checked it quickly, almost feeling the stranger's eye roll.  
«Brilliant! I want to know everything l8r at training!» was the answer (that Rose imagined in his voice). She just smiled, then lifted her head again and, caught up in her cheeriness, held out her hand.  
"My name's Rose by the way." She smiled. Hesitantly the other girl grabbed it and shook it, seeming somehow excited but not too much.  
"Time, Time Winters."

* * *

At the break Rose was leaning against a wall, staring off into space while thinking: in two days she'll have a competition and with nobody distracting her nervousness was taking over: she was sure, it would be a failure, again.

Suddenly she felt someone stare at her and turned around, seeing the Galaxy-eyed girl looking away quickly. This happened a couple more times, then Rose took the situation in her hands. She slowly walked to the girl that was now pretending to read a book and looked at her.  
"Hey!" She said smiling.  
"Oh, hi.." Time said with a tentative smile.  
"You know you can come and talk to me, right?" She said as nicely and reassuringly as she could.  
The girl looked like a deer in headlights, so Rose tried to make her at ease.  
"I mean, 's not like I'm doing much anyway.."  
"Oh, okay.." Time let out after a short while.  
After that there were some moments of awkward silence, in which Time seemed torn between talking and staying silent and Rose waited patiently.

"I'm sorry I was staring at you... I know it's awkward, it's kinda my bad habit.." The galaxy eyed girl finally stuttered out.  
"Oh, no worries- wait what? You mean staring at me?" Asked a fairly confused Rose.  
Time flushed "No, not at you, just..in general.. Like, people watching" she said shyly.  
"Oh, okay. I've heard of that. Is it fun?" Rose asked, understanding downing on her.  
"Well, yes.. I mean, you can understand a lot of things of a person just by watching her.. Oh god, I know it sounds proper creepy like this but it's just my way  
of spending time alone" Time stuttered out.  
Rose felt really sad for this girl and angry for not noticing her earlier: they were similar in some way and maybe they could help each other out, if one of them made the first step.  
"It sounds interesting. Sciencey, too."  
She smiled at her.  
"Well, I could teach you, if you want.." Time suggested timidly.  
"Or...we could do something else together" Rose proposed with a happy smile.  
Time's face lightened up at the suggestion and she nodded eagerly, thinking «Have I just finally found a friend?»

* * *

 **John felt his heart leap in his chest (as it always did lately) when he saw Rose enter with her gorgeous smile and a happy expression.**  
 **As soon as she saw him her eyes lit up and she half-ran to him.**  
 **He opened his arms and swiped her up a bit when she launched herself at his neck.**  
 **"I made it!" She said laughing.**  
 **"Hey there, my little scientist! I had no doubt about it" He answered putting her down and looking proudly at her.**  
 **Rose just grinned wider in response.**  
 **"How was your day, Doctah?"**  
 **"Ah, it was okay, didn't do much, actually. But a fine day, all in all" he said, adding in his mind «better since you walked in».**  
 **"And the rest of yours?" He asked curiously.**  
 **"Well, I actually made friends with a girl in my class. She's someone I've never seen before but I'm somehow sure she's always been there. She seemed so sad and so alone so I had to go and talk to her. She seems really nice. Weirder than me but nice." She finished with a tongue touched smile and John forgot for a second what he wanted to reply.**  
 **"That's brilliant!" He smiled his dazzling smile at her too.**

 **Simultaneously they looked at the watch in the entrance, then both looked at each other and started walking towards the changing rooms.**  
 **"Well, are you ready for the competition, tomorrow?" John asked, knowing it was an open wound.**  
 **"Ugh, not really... I'm not that sure about it, I have high expectations for it but I don't think they'll be satisfied." Rose said defeated and John cringed**  
 **internally.**  
 **"Come on, I'm sure you can do this!" He encouraged her.**  
 **"I hope so.." Was the last thing she said before they parted.**


	10. Competition time

**AN: Hey guys! As promised, here's a chapter full of John/Rose!  
I hope you're still there reading this! ;)  
For the swimmers that are reading this (if there are any): I know some things in this chapter might sound improbable, but they're in the story for a reason (they're plot devices).  
I would love to hear feedback, especially for this chapter since is so John/Rose centered :D  
As alway, lots of thanks to **EmilyAndTheDiamonds **that helps me on this!**

* * *

It was Sunday afternoon. Another competition was waiting for Rose just after the light lunch Jackie had made for her, but she couldn't eat anything, her stomach was clenched tight with nerves.  
John's reassurances hadn't had much success, although she appreciated the effort he was putting in for her, even though he had the competition too and the results of it were far more important for him than they were for her. John could gain access to nationals!  
She swallowed the last mouthful of her lunch and got up: time to get ready!

* * *

 **To say John was nervous was an understatement. Ever since he grumpily got up that morning he had only answered moody and complaining.  
** **He was so glad to be at the pool, finally! Here were the only two things that could calm him: the water and the task to help Rose relax.**

 **For now, he had only tried the former and he was impatiently waiting for the latter, knowing she'd get out of the water soon.  
** **To distract himself, he took out his earbuds, sat against a wall and started listening to music.  
** **He needed to focus on the competition, not the results, or he won't reach them.  
** **Rose had been his lucky charm last time. He was so busy cheering her up that he'd had no time to worry. And, if he was honest with himself, he had swam to impress her, even though he rationally knew she'd probably be in the call room.**

 **A swimsuit clad body blocked his visual and it took him some seconds to focus on the gorgeous girl in front of him: she still had water dripping from her hair and was wrapped in a pink towel, an unsure smile pinned to her face, barely hiding her worry.  
** **He took a earbud out just in time to hear a whispered "Hey there" over the chaotic sounds of the pool.  
** **"Hey.." He answered, patting the spot next to him on the floor with a small smile.  
** **"How do you feel?" He asked as she sat down.  
** **Rose shrugged.  
** **"Alright, I guess" Then, at John's pointed stare, she relented.  
** **"Okay, okay. I'm anxious. Happy now?"  
** **"Of course not! I just hate when people lie to me even if they have painted over their face what they feel" he answered a bit rudely, then cringed internally.  
** **Rose seemed taken aback by the abrupt response and John felt immediately guilty.  
** **"I'm sorry Rose.. I know it was rude, I'm just a lot stressed right now.." He added in right after, letting his face fall in his hands, rubbing his eyes tiredly.  
** **"I know, I'm sorry too.. I know this competition is important for you and I didn't want to add any weight on you by leaning my worry on you.."  
** **John lifted his head and fixed his eyes in hers, touched by the thoughtful gesture.  
** **"Oh Rose..that's really sweet of you, but... Helping you with your worry actually helps me dealing with mine. Last time I was so focused on you that I barely had time to freak out and that was the best thing because when I dived into the water I had a clear mind." He finished smiling.  
** **Rose nodded her understanding and tried to find something to say.  
** **"Well, you already know I'm anxious for this competition and that I don't think I can make the time our trainer wants me to do" She said shrugging.  
** **"And you as well know that I think our trainer wouldn't have set the goal too high, so you can at least get close to it" He remarked again and watched as Rose rolled her eyes at him.  
** **"Was I rude again?" He asked sheepish a second later.  
** **Rose laughed softly and nodded.  
** **"Whoops.." He said, taking her hand.  
** **That was something they did quite a lot, lately. When they were walking, if one of them needed reassurance, sometimes even when they were talking. It was something that comforted them both, that small physical contact. And, to be completely honest, it thrilled them every single time.  
** **Rose squeezed his hand in answer.**

 **After some minutes of silence, John felt his anxiety raise again and wanted to listen to music, but he knew it would have been rude with Rose sat next to him.  
** **He could offer an earbud, but he also knew that people, when they were offered to listen to music by someone, often thought that the song itself held a "hidden meaning".  
** **«Screw it, this is my pre-competition playlist and she can think whatever she wants» he thought, tired of overthinking.  
** **"Wanna listen?" He said holding an earbud out to her.  
** **Rose looked unsure for a second, then accepted the offer. After she plugged in, John decided to warn her.  
** **"You may not like all the songs, though. This is the playlist I selected for the competitions so.." He trailed off sheepishly, but the soft smile he received in answer settled his worries.  
** **"It's all right"  
** **After that, none of them talked and both stared in front of them at the busy pool.  
** **At some point Rose leaned her head on John's shoulder and his automatic reaction was to lean his own head against hers. This simple change caused in both mixed reactions: first butterflies in their stomachs and shudders, then a quiet sense of contentment washed over them and Rose sighed softly. This felt too good to be true.**

* * *

John had made it! She couldn't believe it, he was so good!

She watched as he made his way to their trainer, pride showing through her eyes.  
As he turned around he caught her stare and made a victory sign, slowly making his way to her.  
Soon, though, he was stopped by his friends, the best swimmers of the team.  
Rose saw the disappointment in his eyes as he forced the small talk and the smiles as they all complimented him. She bit her lip and looked away: she had almost forgotten the "difference" between them, that right now looked right an enormous gap. How could she be enough for someone so brilliant and successful?  
«Snap out of it, Rose» She thought, «he has friends, what's the big deal? He was coming to you and you saw it. He was stopped and he'll come soon enough. No need for a pity party.»  
Rose had to admit that the reasoning was correct: if their differences didn't matter to him, why should they matter to her?  
Convinced, she looked up at him again and smiled at him, but her smile faltered: his discomfort was clear (although she didn't know the reason of it), so why none of his friends seemed to be asking about it?

After some other long minutes, the crowd around him dispersed and he looked at her, bright smile back on full blown.  
He walked to her, his pace getting faster the closer he came to her.  
"You did it!" She exclaimed, pride once again radiating from her and wide grin on her face.  
"I did it!" He repeated and hugged her, lifting her and making her do a little spin.  
Rose laughed and bathed in the feeling of joy that both of them felt.  
As he set her down, she fixed her eyes on his.  
"I'm proud of you." She said meaningfully.  
John's smile turned soft, gentle, a kind of smile she'd only seen directed at her for now and she really much liked.  
"Thank you" He said back in the same tone she'd used.

"Rose!" The moment was broken once again by their coach.  
This time John looked at her and she felt like he could see everything, from the surface to the pit of her soul.  
"Go and show them what you're made of." He incited her.  
Rose nodded and took everything she needed from her bag.  
"Good luck" John whispered at the last second and she had just the right time to answer "thank you" before going to the call room.  
She felt John's eyes on her back the whole way there.

* * *

 **Rose's competition hadn't gone quite as well as hoped.**  
 **She had broken her personal record by some tenths of a second, but their trainer didn't seem happy.**  
 **John was woken from his reverie by a shouting, not loud enough to disturb the competition but still enough to be heard.**  
 **"Rose you can't go on like this! You're not improving enough even when others are, so it means that you're not working hard enough. You get better or you quit. We don't need failures on our team." His trainer finished and John was furious: how could he talk like that to Rose?! To anyone, really! That was not how you treat a person! Had he always talked like that to his friend?**

 **In that second Rose rushed past him and his attempts to stop her were pointless. He understood, she needed some time alone and he would give her space, but he'll wait outside for her: she needed him and he needed to make sure she was alright.**  
 **For now, though, he had another task at hand. Slowly, like a storm, he approached the man responsible for the shouting. He cleared his voice and his eyes flashed angrily.**  
 **"Oh hey, John. Need something?" He asked as if nothing had just happened.**  
 **"Actually, yes." He stated and waited for the man's attention.**  
 **"You see, the girl you just happened to shout at, Rose, is a friend of mine. And I really do not like how you treated her. Even if I didn't happen to know her, that's not how you should deal with another human being. She might not have reached her goal, but there are better, less hurtful ways to pass on your thoughts. And really, a failure? I thought I was talking with a grown up man here. I hope I never have to see anything like this, ever again" He growled out, and every word sounded like a dangerous rumble out of his mouth.**  
 **The adult in front of him looked shell shocked, jaw hanging open. Satisfied, he turned around, going to retrieve his bag, but turned around at the last second.**  
 **"One last thing: if she quits, I quit too." He said and smirked at the surprise and panic in his trainer's eyes. Served him well for treating his friend like that.**

* * *

Rose was still having a hard time containing the tears when she exited the changing rooms, hoping to avoid everybody like last time, but she was out of luck: there, leaning on the wall opposite of the door, stood John, looking concerned.  
As soon as he saw her he walked to her.  
"Hey.." He whispered.  
"Hey" She croaked out, hating how husky her voice sounded for the crying.  
"I know you probably don't want to talk right now, but can you give me a chance? I promise I won't keep you anywhere you don't want to be" he pleaded.  
Rose thought it over in her head for a second, then reluctantly nodded her consent.  
John's face was lightened up by a soft, small smile and he held out his hand as an invitation.  
Rose slipped hers in his and wondered how this could already comfort her a little and how they could fit so perfectly.  
Outside it was chilly and a soft breeze blew, but there were still at least a couple of hours before sunset.

John led the way and soon they found themselves in a small park: the trees had the first leaves on and there was a small lake surrounded by benches. It looked beautiful and Rose couldn't help but think how it'd be even more amazing in another season.  
Her friend sat on a bench that was still near the lake but a bit secluded, surrounded by trees and blossoming flowers, and she followed him, leaving her bag on the ground next to her and sitting with her legs crossed, looking at him.

They looked at each other in silence and she could see he was trying to find the best words to say.  
"I'm sorry for what the trainer said" he finally said, surprising her. He was sorry? What could he have done to prevent their coach from shouting at her? It was her fault: she was a failure.  
«He just had had the guts to say it to my face» she thought, tears pooling in her eyes again, but she pressed them back.  
"You don't need to be sorry, it was just the truth. 'Sides, I'm used to that" she sniffed, and then wondered if she'd said something wrong: his eyes had gotten dark and he seemed angry.  
"No Rose, it wasn't the truth. You are not a failure and he should know that: you can't always be as fast as you want, lots of things can have an influence on that. You could have a bad day, be a little sick, not in the right state of mind, have trained a little too hard, be a little down physically and I could list reasons for hours." He said passionately and she couldn't contain the tears anymore: slowly, the first made her way down her face from the corner of her right eye.  
"Adding to that, god only knows how many more variable you girls have: you're an hormonal mess most of the time!" He said with a tone that suggested experience and Rose was surprised and curious.  
Her face must have shown that because he added:"my sister's fault. Every time I say she's cranky she lectures me about woman and their menstrual cycle" blushing a little.  
Rose cracked a small smile. But then she remembered what John had said before that and tears sprung to her eyes again, falling freely.  
"But not every competition can go bad. Once in a while I could understand, but every single time? I think he's right, I'm a failure." She said wiping furiously at her face but succeeding only in making the tears fall faster.  
John's face was a mixture of anger and concern: he took her hands and stopped her, then placed his own on the sides of her face and wiped away the tears with his thumbs.  
"Listen... I know, it's frustrating but it's still no reason to think of yourself as a failure. You might be training the wrong way -I wouldn't be surprised, seeing how our trainer treated you- or, well..you might not be exactly cut for swimming, but I don't think so, because it should have been like this from the beginning and you still being in the team says otherwise. And, even if that was the case, that wouldn't make you a failure. You can't swim as fast as others do, so? You can swim all four swim-styles and not many can say the same. Hell, most people don't even know how to swim! And maybe you're surprisingly good at something else, you just haven't realized it yet." The tender tone of his voice made her shudder and all she could do was nod.  
The tears had almost stopped, but his hands had remained on her face, his thumbs stroking slowly and soothingly her cheeks.  
"Though I'm almost sure the training is the problem here." He said so out of the blue that Rose let out a small laugh.  
When she sobered up, she thought about what he had said.  
"Well, I don't know.. He never corrects me, or better, he reprimands me when I'm too slow. But he never says anything about how I swim or how fast I should go.."  
John's angry face appeared again and he dropped his hands from her face.  
She started to feel disappointed but then saw John clench his fists in anger.  
"I swear that man...I don't understand, he never behaved like that with me, I never thought..."  
"Well, that's because you're one of his favourites, he'd never do that to you.." Rose stated quietly.  
Instead of calming him, though, the storm in his eyes intensified.  
"That's even worse, he shouldn't do that with anybody! There are different ways of communicating with people!" He said angrily, then took a deep breath and Rose took one of his hands, squeezing it.  
"You know what, I have an offer. It may sound ridiculous, but.." He said and she could see he was acting impulsively.  
"Go on" she said, curious.  
"Well, since I'm eighteen I had the chance to do the basic trainer course and I know quite some things about swimming competitively.." he trailed off.  
Rose couldn't help but wonder: was he offering what she thought he was? She looked at him questioning.  
"If you want sometimes we could meet at the pool and I could try and see if you do something wrong.. Kinda 'train' you, if you know what I mean.." He said sheepishly, even blushing a little and looking at her."If you want sometimes we could meet at the pool and I could try and see if you do something wrong.. Kinda "train" you, if you know what I mean.." He said sheepishly, even blushing a little and looking at her hopefully.

Rose couldn't believe her ears: he was really offering that! Oh god, how she wanted to do this!  
"Are you sure it wouldn't be a problem? I don't want to impose more than I already do.." she said smiling a little, as to make sure he didn't misunderstand her nervousness for a rejection, even if all she wanted was to jump up and down in happiness.  
 **«Is she crazy?! I can't wait to spend more time with her! And to see a smile on her face» John thought.**  
"Of course I'm sure!" He exclaimed.  
The smile that blossomed on her face was breathtaking.  
"Then of course!" She exclaimed excitedly before being engulfed in a celebratory hug.  
 **As soon as he realised what he had done John pulled back with a slight blush, but was saved by Rose's stomach grumbling.**  
 **Checking the time, he had another idea to prolong their time together.**  
 **"Someone's hungry, what do you say about some chips?" He asked smiling.**  
 **"I want chips." Rose answered smiling back.**  
 **"Me too" John replied.**  
 **"Right then, before I have to get home, chips it is, and you can pay." She said with that tongue touched smile that made him shudder and he half nodded, distracted.**  
 **As if on accord they stood, took their bag and their hands found each other.**  
 **They started walking, hands swinging between them, when he realized something and blushed crimson.**  
 **"What?" Rose asked seeing his face.**  
 **"No money…" He said sheepishly grinning and scratching his neck with his free hand.**  
 **"What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad. Chips are on me. We've only got an hour before my dad comes pick me up" She said with a brilliant smile and he couldn't help but be happy: what a day!**


	11. Daydreaming

**AN: Hey there! I'm so sorry for the delay, life is occupying a whole lot of time lately..  
I can't promise I'll be more on time later, sorry.**  
 **I'll try my best, though, I promise.**

 **So, new chapter: Tell me what you think about it? *puppy face***

* * *

"I am so not ready for physics" Groaned Rose, pulling her pencil case out of the backpack and laying her head on her desk.  
"Physics? I'm not even ready for English, and that comes first." Replied Time, letting out a fake half laugh.

Over the past few days she and Rose had become fast friends, despite the closed-off nature of the first. Rose just seemed to bring out a little what was hidden behind her protective walls. Rose knew she could only scrape the surface, but for now she would content herself with this: opening up required trust, and trust needed time. Her daily goal was to get a smile out of her, a smile and she would consider her day successful.

"Thank god I had time to study English early this week or I'd be completely screwed in both tests" Said Rose, getting a snarl from Time.  
«Yes, because it's so hard for her getting a good grade in English» Time thought sarcastically but felt a bit bad right after.  
"What?!" The blonde asked surprised.  
The hazelnut haired girl only glared at her, then turned back to the teacher and pulled at her sleeves. She did that a lot, Rose noticed.  
"Listen, if you want you can ask me during the test and if I can I'll tell you the answer" She offered.  
Time seemed taken aback, but only shrugged and shook her head a little.  
Silence settled then, until Rose, bored and worried, broke it again.  
"I should have asked John for physics.. Now I'll have to ask him to help me fix this grade too" She said to herself.  
The grim voice of the Galaxy-eyed girl startled her.  
"Your daydream boy?" She said in a clearly malicious tone.  
"He-you-I do not daydream about him. He's just a friend" Rose stammered to defend herself.  
"Mh-hm..sure, whatever you say" Time said patronizingly.  
Rose huffed, annoyed.  
"How do you know about him anyway? I didn't mention him more than once or twice.."  
"Per hour? You always talk about him." Time snorted.  
"Whaaat? I do not." Said Rose in a high pitched, defensive voice.  
"John this, John that, John is so great, oh John!" The hazelnut haired girl mocked the blonde.  
"No-that's not-you-" Rose tried to stop her.  
"What's happening there?" Came the loud reprimand of the teacher.  
"Nothing, sir" They chorused, but Rose shot a glare at the other girl that said that it was not over. Or maybe that it was?

* * *

"Rose.. Rose.." She heard a whisper from her left and turned around.

Time was staring at her with pleading eyes, so she made an expression that said "What?" and waited for an answer.  
"What did you write in the third question?" The starry eyed girl asked.  
Rose glanced at the teacher to make sure he wasn't looking at them, then proceeded to answer. As she was saying the last two words, her English teacher grumbled.  
"Winters, who're you talking to?"  
Rose felt her heart stop and didn't know what to do. She looked at Time and her eyes were blank: in them she could see the struggle between saving herself and being loyal to the new friend she just made, so the blonde girl made a split decision.  
"Sorry Mr Smith, it was my fault.." She answered cringing.  
"Tyler, give me your test." He said sternly and Rose slowly got up and went to the teacher. As she came back to sit, she could see the dumbfounded surprise in her friend's eyes, that was staring at her instead of writing the test.  
"Finish the goddam test!" She whispered and then turned her head to her desk, smiling: being kind felt good.

* * *

 **John was sitting at his desk, oblivious to what was happening around him. He was thinking about Rose, a bit worried: she had two tests today, and one was in physics.**  
 **She seemed unsure about the subject but had refused his help because, he was quoting, she "didn't want to bother him too much". Silly girl. He would have loved to help her, to see her brilliant smile and hear her contagious laugh. And to-**  
 **His musings were interrupted by a loud shout in his ear.**  
 **"Jooohn!" Mickey was screaming, looking annoyed.**  
 **"What? No need to be loud, I'm not deaf" John sputtered back.**  
 **"Really? It's the fourth time I called you." Mickey said with a superior, sarcastic expression.**  
 **Mickey was the only guy from his team that was also in his class.**  
 **"Done thinking about Rose yet?" He asked and before John could open his mouth to protest he stopped him.**  
 **"Don't even try to deny it. I've known you for three years, I sit next to you every day and swim with you too. I know your expressions, especially when you're doing this one that shouts 'I can't stop thinking about her'. It's almost painted nonstop on you lately." Mickey finished and looked expectantly at John, only to find him sporting a pout that made him look like a three years old.**  
 **He shook his head and tried again.**  
 **"So I asked, are you done?"**

* * *

"I'm sorry" She heard Time say even before she saw her.  
"What for?" She asked turning to her and greeting her with a smile.  
The break had finally arrived after the two tests and now Rose was leaning against a wall in the hallway, chilling her brain after two challenging periods. Why teachers felt the need to torture students like that was beyond her.  
"For earlier, in English... You shouldn't have taken the blame, it was my fault and.." Time started ranting, but Rose stopped her.  
"I had already finished the test." Rose said with a half smile.  
"What?" Time asked confused.  
"Well, I had to check it, but I had finished it." Rose shrugged.  
"And you let me feel guilty all this time?!" Time asked feigning shock, but Rose could see the smile of relief on her face.  
"Sorry" She said playfully, feeling satisfied for the day.

* * *

 **"Being kind feels good" Said Rose out of the blue at John.**  
 **They were walking home after a quite tiring training and their walk had started off fairly silently.**  
 **Their hands had found each other on their own accord and were now swinging between them. It was something that neither of them did with any other friend. But between them it felt so good, so... right.**  
 **Without any word, John looked at Rose questioningly.**  
 **Rose shrugged answering "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about today and realized I always want to do this, to be kind: it gives so much more satisfaction than being mean and cruel."**  
 **John was astonished by this girl, she was extraordinary and probably the kindest being he had ever known, but she always wanted to be better.**  
 **"Yes, you're right. The world would be better if people were nicer to each other.." «If they were more like you» he added in his mind. She made him want to be better.**  
 **He squeezed her hand and smiled at her. She was a gift.**  
 **Speaking of which..**  
 **"I have a question" he said, remembering the "game" they had started playing when he started tutoring her to get to know each other better. Sure, they knew a whole lot more of the other than they used to, but still.**  
 **"Ask away" She answered smiling.**  
 **"It's just...I realised... I don't know when your birthday is." He said sheepishly and Rose grinned at his embarrassment.**  
 **"It's okay, I don't know yours either" she smiled.**  
 **"It's on February 14th" She added, waiting for the usual remark about how lucky she was because she would receive a present on her birthday anyway.**  
 **"On Valentine's Day? Must be annoying." He said instead and Rose looked surprised at the unexpected answer.**  
 **"Well, not exactly, why?" She asked, curious.**  
 **"Ah nothing, just.. Nah it's stupid and something a three years old would think, forget it." John said looking embarrassed.**  
 **"N'aw come oon! I already know you're a three years old inside" She teased with a tongue touched smile, bumping her shoulder on his.**  
 **John pouted playfully.**  
 **"Oh, that's what you think, Rose Tyler? Than I shall not tell you." He said turning away from her.**  
 **"See? Three years old." She remarked and tugged on his hand, leaning her face on his arm to make him forgive her.**  
 **"Umpfh.." was the unintelligible answer, but she could see the tender - wait tender? - smile on his face.**  
 **"So... When's yours?"**  
 **John was confused: what was she asking?**  
 **"What?"**  
 **"Your birthday, dreamer." She teased again.**  
 **"Oh, that! On January 10th" he smiled.**  
 **It was Rose's turn to pout.**  
 **"But that was not so long ago! You should have told me!" She protested.**  
 **"Oh well... Didn't count much, don't worry" he smiled sheepishly.**  
 **"Yes I do! You definitely should have told me" Rose said, sounding offended.**  
 **John sighed he had thought about telling her, but in the end thought not to do it because he feared it could seem he was «seeking her attention» and he didn't want to seem needy.**  
 **"You're right, I'm sorry.. I should have.." He answered, eyes downcast.**  
Rose didn't know what to think. She wanted to be mad but she could see he didn't do it purposely to hurt her. Still it made her sad that she missed it.  
"I overreacted, I'm sorry too.. " She said squeezing his hand, meanwhile already thinking what she would do to make it up to him.  
They stopped in front of her house.  
Still connected by one hand, they turned towards one another.  
 **"So.. February 14th, uh? Not far away" John asked maliciously.**  
 **"Yep." She smiled teasingly.**  
 **They stared at one another, smiling like fools for some seconds, then John had to look away (or he would have to listen to a Jack sounding voice in his head).**  
 **"Well, gotta go now" He smiled apologetically.**  
 **Rose nodded and, just when he thought she would move away, she stepped on her tiptoes and, using his arm to steady herself, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.**  
 **"Happy birthday, John" She whispered sweetly, then backed away, threw him the gentlest smile he'd have ever seen and walked back to her house.**  
 **John stood there dumbfounded: his cheek burned and his heart was racing. She had kissed him. On the cheek, but still..**  
 **Boy, she was a continuous surprise.**


	12. Of trainings and presents

**AN: Hey there! Once again, I'm late with the chapter. I'm really sorry :(**  
 **This will have to do for this week (my birthday's coming up and I'm quite busy), but hopefully I'll be able to post normally on the 26th ;)**  
 **So…onto the chapter!**

* * *

 **"Why did I do that?" John wondered pacing frantically in his room.**  
 **He had just finished his dinner and was thinking about his meeting in the afternoon: today was the first time he should train Rose. Alone. And he was freaking out.**  
 **He ran a hand through his hairs and pulled at them.**  
 **"Why, you absolute pillock, why did you?" He reprimanded himself.**  
 **"Why did you do what?" Asked Donna, and John spun to see her, leaning against the door frame with a curious smile.**  
 **He groaned and sat on the bed.**  
 **"I don't think I wanna talk about it." He said defeated.**  
 **Donna looked at him with disbelief and shrugged.**  
 **"Okay then, I'll leave" She said and turned around, leaving the room.**  
 **However, she wasn't even halfway down the hallway when she heard his brother shout.**  
 **"Donna, wait!" He said as his head peeked from the door.**  
 **The girl smirked.**  
 **"Yes?"**  
 **She turned around, her face neutral, and waited for his begging.**  
 **"Could you give me some advice, please?" He asked and Donna almost relented, but managed to keep a straight face.**  
 **"Please?" He asked again and she felt satisfied.**  
 **"Yes, come on" she said going back into his room and sitting on his bed.**  
 **John sighed and sat next to her, nerves on edge.**  
 **"What did you do?" she asked after she saw that her brother didn't want to talk.**  
 **The Doctor sighed.**  
 **"Last week, after the competition..." He trailed off.**  
 **Donna huffed annoyed and motioned with her head for him to go on.**  
 **"Well, Rose was really down and I couldn't stand watching her sad like that and I..I.." He stopped himself.**  
 **"What did you do?! John!" Donna screeched, baffled and complete ready to shout some more if it was anything too terrible.**  
 **"Nothing bad! At least...I hope so..."**  
 **He stammered, then took a deep breath.**  
 **"I found out my trainer was barely training her, so I offered to do some training with her. Alone. Ugh, what was I thinking?!" He groaned and glared at Donna, who was muffling her giggles.**  
 **"I'm sorry Spaceman, 's just.. it's funny. And a whole lot less serious then I had imagined by your embarrassment" Donna said, laughing because of her brother's face.**  
 **"Anyway.. What's the matter? I don't see anything wrong.."**  
 **"Ugh, I don't know! I'm just so worried I'll disappoint her or do something stupid or... I don't know!" John ranted frustrated, probably at himself, his face frowning.**  
 **Donna took his brother's face in her hands and turned him towards her, locking eyes with him.**  
 **"Now listen to me, if she's into you even half of how you're into her, you won't disappoint her. For the doing stupid things part, it's up to you. I know you can control yourself if you need to and you know when to stop. You can do this, and you can do it brilliantly as always."**  
 **John's face softened a bit in self pride.**  
 **"Well, I am rather brilliant" He said, bragging a bit.**  
 **Donna shook her head with a half laugh.**  
 **"That's my Spaceman" She whispered to herself.**

* * *

Rose was panicking. Today was the day she would finally have the first alone training with John. And not only that, she would also finally give him his birthday present.  
But she was worried. What if he didn't like it? What if she turned out to be a complete disaster at the training? What if she did something she'll regret later?  
Life was so complicated.  
She needed to talk to someone.  
'Time. Help.' She wrote, praying that maybe through texts she could calm down. She knew if she called her she'd freak her out in the state she was at the moment.  
'How?' Was all the answer she got, and the raspy tone of her friend was clear in it.  
'I'm worried. For today, ya know..?'  
'For your date with John?' Rose groaned, picturing the teasing smirk on Time's face.  
'Not helping. And it's not a date, he's helping me out. Again.' She typed in quickly.  
'Well, if it's not a date then why are you so worried?'  
Rose sighed. Good question.  
'I don't know.. I'm afraid he won't like the present. And that I'll screw up'  
'Oh come on, he had the chance to run away and he didn't, did he?'  
Rose was confused. What she said made no sense.  
'What do you mean?'  
'...Rose, he's helping you to do a lot of things. Do you really think he would stop talking to you if you do something wrong?'  
Oh. This was what she meant.  
'Well, I don't know.. Guess you're right'  
'I know ;) Now don't you have to get ready for Mr. Daydream?' was the smug reply she got.  
'Fine. Thanks though..' She sent and packed her things.  
'You're welcome.'

* * *

"Hey!" John greeted her with a tight smile.  
«Oh, so he's worried too» Rose realised and a smile of relief blossomed on her face while she put her hands around his neck, hugging him briefly.  
John relaxed in response.  
"Hello, Doctor" She shot back cheerily.  
"Ready to go?" He asked invitingly.  
Rose nodded eagerly and they both turned towards their own changing room, silently agreeing to meet up inside.  
«Better keep the present for later, as a back up plan if I mess up» Rose mused to herself while changing into her swimming costume.

* * *

 **John fidgeted while waiting for his friend. Why were trunks so much easier and faster to put on than swimsuits?**  
 **He looked around at the familiar room: the pool was almost empty (they had decided to meet up before training itself, so it was quite a quiet time); silence was almost total, broken rhythmically by the splashing sound of a swimmer; the four hands clock was working its 60 seconds tour and the air had its usual smell of chlorine, that smell that was always present on his body.**  
 **As he heard a quiet click he turned towards the women's changing room and smiled at the blonde girl. She had her pink training suit on, her hair up in a ponytail and swim cap and googles in hand.**  
 **They met at one end of the pool, the one with the springboards and stared at each other awkwardly for a second before looking down obviously embarrassed.**  
 **John decided to take the situation in his own hands.**  
 **"So... What do you say about diving in and doing some meters of warm up?" He suggested and they simultaneously put on their caps. Rose had the team one on, while John had one with police boxes on it that matched the colour of his trunks. He kind of had an obsession with that.**  
 **Diving in the fresh water was a relief: it cleared his mind and relaxed him, made him focus on what was important and forget about the rest.**  
 **He was here to help Rose, not for his own interests.**

* * *

Rose smiled as water surrounded her. She had always loved water: since she was a child she would always dive in anything that had enough water, puddle included.

She felt connected with it, hearing every distorted sound and feeling bubbles run on her skin as she swam.  
«Let's do my best»

* * *

 **"Okay, I'll just stand near the side of the pool and watch how you swim for a couple of laps. Shall we start with freestyle?" John asked and Rose nodded.**  
 **He made her swim a lap for every style and the more he watched her, the clearer he saw the truth: his trainer didn't pay attention to the ones that weren't the best.**  
 **Rose was so graceful she looked like a mermaid in the water (focus John!), but she had some small technical flaws that his trainer should have seen and corrected. He was so mad at him for at his coach: every swimmer should be treated as equal, not like this.**

* * *

Rose watched as John clenched and unclenched his fists trying to calm down, waiting for his considerations.  
He didn't seem to happy but she'd have to check, she didn't want to be negative.  
She watched as he walked back to her and jumped in next to her.  
She couldn't help but think how gorgeous he was, even with all that things that blocked the view of his face.  
"So?" She asked when he re-emerged.  
"I was right, out trainer hasn't been training you well. You are one of the most graceful swimmers I have ever seen, really. But you have some small imperfections in your technique that should have been corrected. Once those will be out of the picture, you'll have no problems to put up with all kind of trainings." He smiled, visibly forcing down the anger.  
Rose mulled the sentences over in her head for some seconds, then nodded smiling.  
"What do you suggest we do?" She asked timidly.  
"Well, I think that for today we are okay. I've seen what I needed to and I have to go over the books I have at home for some exercises that should help." He explained, adding a half smile in the end and Rose was once again surprised.  
"Are you sure it's not too much trouble for you?" She asked worryingly.  
He took her hand and squeezed it briefly.  
"Anything for you, Rose." He said (and almost regretted). Almost because Rose's ear to ear grin was more than worth it.  
Without thinking about their current situation, Rose threw her hands around his neck and hugged him.  
The instant their bodies touched, they both froze: soft skin again taut muscles, almost every inch of their body in contact, breath leaving goosebumps in their wake. They had hugged other times like this but never with so few clothing on.  
It felt strange, different, obviously more intimate but also good.  
 _"Anything for you, Rose.„_  
«Oh, to hell with it» Rose thought and relaxed.  
John relaxed in response too and put his arms around her waist, leaning his head on hers lightly.  
Soon after they parted, both with soft smiles painted on their faces.  
"Oh, I just remembered! I have a present for you." Rose smiled.  
At John's confused face she clarified "A birthday present. I know it's late, but.."  
"You shouldn't even have bothered, Rose. I'm sure I'll love it" John said with a honest smile.  
"I wanted to get you one, so.."  
John just nodded.  
"Well..?" He asked eager, after checking that they still had time left before the actual training began.  
Rose laughed.  
"Well, we'll have to dry up before I give it to you. I don't want you to get it all wet." She teased.  
Before she had even finished the sentence he was out of the water and as she stepped out he was already toweling his hair.  
"Okay, okay, I'll go get it" she said, still laughing at his eagerness.

* * *

 **«I'd honestly love anything she'd give to me» John pondered while waiting for Rose.**  
 **«Apart from pears. I hate pears.»**  
 **"What are you scolding at?" he heard a voice ask and jumped surprised.**  
 **"Ahh, nothing" he smiled, seeing the carefully wrapped present.**  
 **Rose shrugged and handed it to him.**  
 **"Here."**  
 **John looked at it, then started tearing apart the paper happily, like a child on Christmas morning.**  
 **As soon as he saw what was folded inside, he slowly picked it up and watched it unfolded: it was a t-shirt in his favorite shade of blue, with written on the front "trust me I'm the Doctor" and "allons-y!" on the back. He honestly was in love with it.**  
 **He looked at Rose, who was watching him closely with a worried expression.**  
 **"Rose, it's.. it's brilliant! Perfect! Amazing! I love it!" He rushed out and hugged her, crushing her to him.**  
 **Then he took the t-shirt and put it on.**  
 **"How do I look?" He asked, his voice an octave higher than usual, parading and spinning for her.**  
 **"Fantastic" Rose said laughing, her laughter making him happier than every present she could have gotten him (even though this present made him really really happy).**

* * *

'It was a success. You were right' was the text Time saw at dinner from Rose. She smirked: people watching did help figure people out.  
'Told you so." She typed in.  
Smiling, she shook her head.  
Gosh, how oblivious people could be.


	13. At the mall

**AN: Hey there! Long time no see!**  
 **I know, it's my fault and I feel so guilty because I promised a new chapter soon but took a month instead :/ I hope this makes up a bit for such a long wait, eve though I know it'a not exactly John/Rose centric...**  
 **Oh, I also received a review that asked me _"..._ _does this story have an ending,or do you just want to keep it going?.."_ and I wanted to answer: this story has a PLANNED ending, but I'm still not sure about the whole thing... Hope you don't mind!**

* * *

"So, John told me I should bend my arm of around 90° when I swim backstroke. But I'm not really sure why I should bend it so much, I usually do it less.." Rose said, looking confused and curious.  
Rose and Time were walking around a mall, looking for art supplies, and they were talking about Rose's latest 'private training session' with John.  
"Well, it makes sense; The hydrostatic resistance is the same, but you're using different, stronger muscles so your whole swimming style results more efficient" answered Time, her voice normal even while she launched in a quite scientific explanation, almost as if it was a regular occurrence.  
Rose stopped in her tracks, surprised (almost shocked), and it took Time some steps before realizing that.  
She turned around questioning and the blonde screeched:"Oh my god... you're a nerd!"  
"Am not!" Time defended, looking almost offended.  
"Are too!" Rose insisted.  
"Am not"  
"Are too"  
Knowing that they could go on for hours, Time relented.  
"I just really like science, that's all." She said shrugging and smiling at the mention of her favorite subject.  
Rose started walking again, looking suspiciously at her.  
"Really? 'Cause you seemed quite sure of yourself" Rose poked, trying to find out if it was just a coincidence or if her friend was obsessed with science as much as John was.  
"As I said, I like science. No big deal. If you remember I also had a hard time in that biology test, so I'm not a big ol' geek like your friend" She said the last word eying Rose maliciously.  
"Oh look at that dress!" The blonde exclaimed, changing subject quickly and Time smirked at the reaction.  
"Ah yes, looks good on the mannequin, but once you try it on.." The hazelnut haired commented, and a crazy look passed on Rose's face.  
"Let's go try it!" She said suddenly, taking her friend's hand and dragging her into the shop.

Rose picked up a pink, strapless dress, short but not too much with a large gown; in the meantime the other girl wandered around, until her eyes stopped on a green dress with tight sleeves, its gown hitting the floor: it reminded her of Fiona's, from Shrek, dress, but in a modern, less princess-like way and she couldn't help but smile fondly at the memory of herself in a princess dress for a Halloween party, oh so long ago.

When Rose saw her eying the dress, she took one from the hanger and dragged Time again, this time to the fitting room.  
"Rose, what are we doing?" She asked confused.  
"Trying on dresses!" The other answered cheerily.  
"Why should I try it on? I'll never buy it!"  
"Oh for god's sake. Just try it on for-...for fun!" Rose answered, trying to convince her friend.  
At her still unconvinced expression, Rose took out her best pouting face.  
"Please?"  
"Fine." Time relented, shaking her head but secretly enjoying her friend's spontaneity as they went in to the changing rooms.

"Time, you ready?" Rose asked, and the other girl opened the door looking a bit unsure: she loved the dress, but it was almost... too much?  
"Wow, Time... You look amazing" was the first thing she heard, before she could even see her friend and she blushed, smiling timidly.  
"Thank you." She said sincerely, then added "You look fantastic too"  
Rose only grinned in answer and they both turned to the common mirror outside to admire themselves.

"Woah, looking good here!" They heard a cheery voice say and had similar reactions: Time jumped and turned around, almost feeling the need to retreat in the fitting room, Rose blushed and turned around slowly, wishing the Earth could open under her feet an swallow her right there and then, having recognized the voice.

"Hi John" Rose said sheepishly.  
"Hey Rose. You look beautiful" He repeated, this time quieter and sweeter.  
The blonde blushed harder and smiled shyly.  
"Thank you" She whispered, finally looking up in his eyes and losing herself in them.  
This time, it was the hazelnut girl who wished to disappear. She was torn between feeling like she was in something she didn't belong to and feeling happy and giddy because they were so sweet and «look at them they're perfect together and ugh!».  
After some time passed, she awkwardly cleared her throat. Did they seriously not realize that at least a minute had passed?!  
Rose was the first one to recover and after a half annoyed glare she gestured between her friends.  
"Oh right, sorry! John, this is my friend Time. Time, this is John"  
John proffered his hand to Time, but the girl only eyed it suspiciously, still on edge because of the surprise entry, and John smiled awkwardly and put his hand in his pocket.  
"So, what do you two say, you want to get a coffee down at the cafe?" John asked feigning confidence, his expression betraying him.  
Rose looked at Time and the girl nodded.  
"Sure, let us get changed and then we're ready" Rose smiled back at him.  
When she was at the door, however, she heard him mutter "N'aww, shame, I was hoping to have a pink and yellow princess to escort downstairs" and her heart skipped a beat at the affirmation.

* * *

"So you're here for an art project" John asked curiously.  
"Yes. We have to buy canvas because we are studying what effects we can get on different surfaces." Rose explained.  
She was walking between her two friends, enjoying the attentions she was getting and she was tempted to take John's hand, but was afraid he didn't felt like it. Also, Time was with her and could get the wrong (right) idea. She wasn't in love with John, was she?  
"And what are you here for?" Rose asked to continue the conversation.  
"Apart from making people jump with cheesy comments" Piped in Time, smirking and Rose elbowed her in the side.  
"Ah, was getting a new shirt for a family dinner and I ran into you two" John answered shrugging.  
"Pff sure, «'ran into'" The hazelnut haired commented, this time softer so only Rose heard.  
"Here" John said, taking Rose's hand to take her to the café.  
Immediately Rose felt relief and worry for Time's possible misinterpretations, but decided to let things go. The other girl was already sure there was something going on between them, anyway.

The trio sat at a table in a corner. The cafe was small and busy, the inside looked cozy and warm and a smiling woman took their order.  
Both the girls looked in disbelief at John when he ordered a "banana muffin with crunchy ball bearings on top' but the woman must have known John, for she only smiled knowingly and nodded.  
"What?" He asked as if they were the strange ones.  
"Banana muffin?" Asked Rose  
"With crunchy ball bearings on top?" Finished Time.  
"Yeah, they're the best thing human ever invented. And I'm sure aliens don't have edible crunchy ball bearings." He answered in a pensive face.  
"Your boyfriend is mad" Time interjected.  
"Not my boyfriend" Grimaced Rose.

As soon as their order arrived, John attacked the muffin, making a content noise when he took the first bite, and Rose and Time exchanged a bewildered look.  
"Want some?" He asked excitedly, receiving doubtful glares in answer.  
"Come on, it's great!" He pouted at Rose.  
She couldn't resist that look.  
"Fine." She relented, while Time muttered something that sounded like "completely besotted" under her breath.  
Rose took a suspicious bite at the muffin, then opened her eyes in surprise.  
"I hate to say this, but he's right" she said to her friend and on John's face appeared a smug smile.  
"You guys are most definitely married" Time commented, again only for Rose to hear.

"Want to try it too?" John asked politely and Time refused strongly.  
"I'm fine, thanks."  
In the meantime, Rose snatched another bite at the boy's bun.  
"Oi! Don't finish my muffin!" He exclaimed and Rose smirked playfully in answer, holding the cake just out of John's reach.  
Watching the two fight for the food, Time shook her head: how they couldn't see what was right in front of their eyes was beyond her.

* * *

"So..what do you think about John?" Rose asked at Time once they were alone again. "He's fine. So in love with you, though." She answered matter-of-factly, smiling slyly.  
Rose blushed and protested.  
"Not true, stop it."  
"Why? It is true!"  
"Just... I don't wanna get any false idea in my mind" Rose said, looking almost dejected and Time decided to let things go, shrugging. Some day they'll both see what everybody else could see.

The two walked in silence for some seconds, both thinking over what just happened.  
"Ca- can I ask you something?" Rose broke the silence.  
"Sure"  
"Is there a reason you like science so much?" The blonde asked and watched as her friend froze, although she couldn't tell if it was for the sudden change of subject or for the question itself. Earlier when talking about this she had sensed that the galaxy eyed girl had some different, deeper reason to love science than a normal passion, but she wasn't sure.

When she didn't receive any answer, however, Rose hurried to retract.  
"Sorry, I shouldn't-"  
"No, it's... fine, really. There... yeah, there's a reason.." The hazelnut haired answered, quite hesitantly.  
Rose waited for the reason, quite curious but also worried about her friend.  
"Um. Actually, my Dad, he... was a scientist. So... guess that ... was inherited. I used to, uh, sit in his study room a lot."  
Rose noticed with shock that her small friend's eyes teared up but before she could say anything, Time quickly swiped her fringe out of her eye and added, chuckling as if to cover up for something: "But, you, it's whatever, it's just ... easy."  
"I'm sorry, but... was? Did he quit the job or something like that?" Rose asked suspiciously. The Galaxy eyed girl was hiding something.  
"...Yeah, something like that.." She answered evasively and the blonde knew not to press any further, because she wouldn't get any more information for today.


	14. Of superheroes and discoveries

**AN: What's this? An update?! Almost on time?**  
 **Okay, sorry, couldn't help myself :') But yep, I'm updating almost on time! My planned chapters are starting to run short, probably around six more to go (okay, so that's not really short, but still).**  
 **I'll try to be more regular with updates, but I can't promise anything, my teachers are giving me hell.**  
 **About the chapter: BE WARNED, it starts rather cheery/funny, but ends up quite angsty/hurt-comfort. Tons of John/Rose ahead, though!**  
 **Your opinions mean A LOT to me ;) (seriously, I NEED them)**

* * *

 **"Okay, now you could do four times 50 metres in 45 seconds, arriving around 36 to 38. Check how you bend your arms and keep using your legs." John said, smiling a bit to show that he wasn't ordering her around.**  
 **Rose felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks.**  
 **"I don't know how to arrive when you told me to.. I mean, how can I know I'm not going too fast or too slow?"**  
 **John looked surprised.**  
 **"You never done this?" He asked curious. This kind of exercise were the most used in trainings and since she'd also trained with him, she should have tried them.**  
 **"Yes, I have, but I'm usually quite far back, and I also have always somebody before me, so I just need to keep up with them in order to arrive in time. I've just never done this alone" She said, blushing lightly.**  
 **John was surprised by just how cute this girl was: she never was rude, or brusque and she had this something that made it impossible to dislike her.**  
 **"Well, that's not a problem: let's start with the basics. I like to call this ability «time sense». Makes me feel like a superhero" He said smiling proudly.**  
 **"Oh, you think you're so impressive" she teased with a smirk.**  
 **He pouted.**  
 **"I am so impressive!" He said, faking offense and turning slightly his back to her.**  
 **"Oh, don't be a baby" Rose replied bumping her shoulder with his and giving him a tongue-touched smile to which he couldn't help but answer.**  
 **"Can I speak, now, miss?" He said turning to her again.**  
 **"Yes you shall, mister" She shot back.**  
 **"Usually, long time swimmers have this ability, even if they're not aware of it. I think you shouldn't have any problem arriving with the right timing, but it'll be okay if you don't get it right at the first try. Just swim and see what happens" He said, grin giving way to a soft smile.**  
 **Rose just nodded, tense, before kicking off from the wall.**  
 **When she arrived, 50 metres later, John smiled at her.**  
 **"37.3" He simply said, and Rose beamed at him.**  
 **"I made it!" She said throwing her arms around his neck, caught in the joy of the moment.**  
 **John, shocked for only a fraction of second, wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her lightly.**  
 **Pointless to say, the full physical contact, skin to skin, curves against taut muscle, made them both shiver.**  
 **Blushing, Rose retreated back slightly, an apology on the tip of her lips, but John interrupted her.**  
 **"Great job, doll" He said playfully and the girl was surprised by the nickname, already planning to have her revenge.**  
 **Again, before she could answer, he talked.**  
 **"Now let's complete the exercise, shall we?" He smirked down at her, victoriously.**  
 **She just scowled at him, putting her googles back on and sticking playfully her tongue at his back.**  
 **"Seen that! Let's make the four series six, shall we?" He bantered playfully, not meaning it.**  
 **"No way!" Rose answered laughing, sprinting off the wall before he could get another word in.**  
 **John shook his head smiling: this girl will drive him crazy**.

* * *

Rose reprimanded herself mentally; she needed to control her reactions better! Of course, John didn't seem to mind the hug, but still...  
She thought that he had shivered, but it must have been her imagination. It was always like this when she had a crush.  
She groaned.  
Bloody hell. No. She couldn't allow herself that. Most people around her told her that John had a big-no, an enormous crush on her, that he was smitten, but she didn't want to get any hope: she wasn't exactly lucky with love.  
With a strong last stroke she turned and pushed from the wall again, her feet slipping a bit.  
She was getting better, and her trainer was noticing too. She wasn't the last one to start anymore and she could keep up better.  
Thank god John was farther ahead, or she wouldn't have heard the end of the whole 'a wrong turn over can make you fail a competition' speech.

Sighing to herself, she took a decision: she wouldn't question her relationship with John anymore; she'd just go with whatever she felt was right and enjoy what they got. After all, John was the best mate she could ask for.

* * *

"And there's this crazy theory in physics that says that time and fate are connected. Meaning that, should we change how we measure time, it would change our fate too. " John said excitedly, and Rose couldn't help but smile: he was so adorable (or better, adorkable) when he started off on some tangent about a theory he liked, or a book he was reading, or anything, really.

This time it was the turn of a theory he had read in an essay.  
She contented herself with nodding and listening to the sound of his voice: she had understood the basic ideas, but these words went over her head.  
A soft not-yet-vernal breeze was making her hair float around her as a timid sun peeked over the blanket of clouds, heating the day a bit.  
The boy's voice was hypnotic and suddenly Rose found herself wondering what it would be like to fall asleep to the sound of it, maybe cuddled up in his arms...  
"Rose? Are you still listening?" John squeezed her hand and his voice broke through her reverie.  
"Yes of course" She answered too quickly and the boy eyed her suspiciously.  
She smiled innocently.  
"Please, go on" she asked and let out a relieved breath when he started talking again: thank god he hadn't noticed anything too strange.  
So much for «just going with it».

"And then it all connects because of this! That man was a genius. Well played, Mr. Winters" He finished, smiling proudly as if this was his own making.  
Rose's ears, however, had picked a name that was familiar.  
"Wait, you said Winters?" She asked suspicious.  
John nodded.  
"Matthew Winters, brilliant physicist. He and his wife passed away some time ago... He worked with my dad." John said, expression changing from proudness, to melancholy and finally to sadness.  
Rose tucked away this changes to question him lately, too busy mulling over what she might have just found to ask him now.

"Why do you ask?" He asked suddenly, making her jump.  
Rose fiddled with the hem of her jacket.  
"Well... Time's last name is Winters... And she used the past tense to talk about her dad, so I was wondering if maybe..." She trailed off at John's expression: a mix of surprise, disbelief and sadness.  
"They did have a daughter. With brown hair and everybody talked about her eyes.."  
Rose was surprised and felt almost guilty now.  
"God... Of course she was so reluctant with talking about her father.." She said cringing.  
He disentangled his hand from hers and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into him.  
"You couldn't have known, Rose.." He said, looking guilty and Rose swore she felt him press a kiss to her hair.

* * *

"What should I do now?" She asked, more to herself than to John, sitting down on the small wall that separated her garden from the sidewalk. They had arrived, but Rose needed the boy's help and support now, she was so confused.  
John sat next to her with a pensive face.  
"About what?" He asked confused.  
"With Time... How should I behave? Should I tell her I know? Should I act differently?" She said without even breathing once, eyes pleading John to comfort her.  
He took her hands and squeezed them, then began caressing the back of her hands with the pad of his thumbs in small, reassuring circles.  
"I think you shouldn't do anything. Just behave how you normally would do around her. This doesn't change who she is for you, she still is the same person you met some weeks ago. When she's ready, she will tell you herself." He said, surprisingly informed on the subject.  
Rose's eyes, that had been fixed in his the whole time, dropped slowly to their still entwined hands.  
Taking a quivering breath, she spoke up.  
"I don't know if I can do that... I mean, I'll probably feel guilty and sad every time I mention my parents. I can't even imagine how that can feel.." She said, finally looking up in John's eyes: they were staring ahead, painfully clear and still incredibly sad. He seemed in another world  
"Don't do that." He said brutally, surprising Rose.  
She made to take her hand away, shocked, but he held on and resumed his circling motions.  
"Don't do that" He repeated, this time softer.  
"She probably has coped at least a bit with their death, and is okay with you talking about them. And if still hurts her, treating her differently, as if she were ready to break at any moment, won't help. She would probably just distance herself." He went on, looking as if, instead of talking about what he thought was good he was speaking from personal experience.

Rose was suspicious about this: it was time to ask about it. It couldn't be a coincidence.  
"Listen... I don't mean to be-" She started, but was interrupted by a car stopping in front of them.  
She groaned and disentangled their hands quickly: she knew what would happen if he saw her like this.  
At John questioning look, she turned towards the person that had just gotten out of the car and spoke up.  
"Hi Dad"  
John's paralysed state was hilarious and Rose started laughing.  
As her dad approached them, he was wearing a wide grin.  
"You can relax, boy. I'm less dangerous than her mother" He said playfully and John relaxed slightly, while Rose was clutching her stomach, still laughing.  
The boy glared at her, but it only served to make her laugh harder.

Rose's dad stuck his hand out.  
"I'm Pete" he said smiling.  
John took his hand and shook it.  
"Nice to meet you. I'm John Noble" he answered.  
"Oh, so you're the famous John!" Pete exclaimed surprised and it was Rose's time to freeze at the boy's smug.  
"I have a feeling we'll get along well" Pete concluded, saying goodbye and going inside the house.

* * *

 **John, as much as he had felt terror at meeting Rose's dad, was glad for the interruption.**

 **Seeing her feeling so guilty made him think about his 'secret', or better, his omission. He would have to tell her, sooner or later.**

 **"Well... Before my dad interrupted I was trying to say something. And since it seems to be dad-day, you never told me anything about your dad.." She said, cringing because of the fear of the answer.**  
 **He sighed internally, seemed that that soon was right now.**  
 **With the softest voice possible, he answered "My dad died five years ago" and watched as her face crumbled, guilt and shame clear on it.**  
 **"No, Rose, please, don't feel guilty, please" He pleaded before she could even open her mouth.**  
 **She shook her head and John was surprised to see her eyes glisten.**  
 **"How can I? It's the second time that I somehow hurt one of my friends! And why? Because I'm insensitive and tactless." She scolded.**  
 **"Rose, that's not true." He said, taking both her hands in his. When she refused to look him in the eyes, however, he lifted one hand to her cheek and cupped her face, tilting her head until her eyes, still full of unshed tears, were fixed in his.**  
 **"As I said before, you couldn't have known. And you didn't hurt me, I promise." He whispered in his most convincing voice, but his friend seemed still unsure.**  
 **"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, regretting it soon after.**  
 **He had to think about the answer for a couple of minutes.**  
 **"I'm not sure... I guess that when you were happy I didn't want to ruin your happiness and when you were sad...well I didn't want to sadden you more." He answered, eyes dropping from hers. Her hands squeezing his made him go on.**  
 **"I know it's stupid, it's just... It's something that only makes others uncomfortable around me and reminds me of happy times, but also painful ones and it's easier to just forget, sometimes. I'm so sick of people treating me as if I was made of thin glass, pitying me and I guess I didn't want me to look at me like that too.." He said in a single breath, so much passion and nostalgia behind his words.**  
 **Rose disentangled their hands and started playing with his fingers.  
**

 **"Do you miss him?" She asked tentatively after some silence.**  
 **"Yes." He answered immediately.**  
 **"Yes, I miss him often, but it's easier now. I'm glad for the happy moments we had together, I'm glad for how he taught me a lot of things, I'm glad for the passion for science I inherited from him. I'm glad I had the chance to know him and be loved by him." He said the last words lifting his eyes and fixing them in hers, letting her see the truth in them.**  
 **"That's why you love «Doctor», so much" She whispered, more of a statement than a question.**  
 **"That's why I love «Doctor, so much" He confirmed, and this time Rose dropped her gaze to lean her head on his shoulder.**  
 **John took the opportunity to caress her hand slowly, praying that he hadn't messed this up.**  
 **"Wish you had told me sooner.." She sighed finally.**  
 **He pressed a soft kiss to her hair in apology, and when she pressed closer to him, cuddling into his side slightly, he felt something shift inside of him: he had done the right thing telling her, because she was his anchor, his best friend, the one that would stay at his side, no matter what.**


	15. A perfect birthday

**AN: Aaaand again, after a looong absence, I'm back!  
I'm so sorry for taking so long, but hopefully the length of this chapter will make up for that?  
The next chapter will be up soon, since I've already written it ;)  
Thank you so much to everybody that stick with me through this long await, it means a lot to me.**

 **Reviews make my day!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the song mentioned here nor the characters.**

* * *

Rose was speechless when, turning around, she was faced with a bunch of flowers where a face should have been.  
She had been talking with Martha when she had heard someone (she was sure it had been John's voice) greet her and when she had turned around...  
"Surprise!" The boy exclaimed, face finally peering out from behind the bouquet of pastel rainbow coloured tulips.  
The blonde couldn't contain her joyous laughter, surprise indeed.  
At John's answering grin she threw her arms around his neck (careful of not crushing the beautiful flowers) and hugged him tightly.  
John answered in a half hug, chuckling quietly.  
When they were face to face again, he handed her the flowers and leaned in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to her cheek and whispering, only inches apart from her skin "Happy Birthday, Rose".  
His warm breath made her shiver and she forgot to breathe for a split second, remembering herself doing the same gestures not so long ago, but made up for it giving him a gentle smile and whispering back a soft 'thank you', eyes locking with his.  
Both felt their hearts accelerate and their breath itch. Their gazes steady on the other, neither could do anything but stare, small, soft smiles forming on their lips.  
The sound of a phone ringing broke the moment, but they didn't jump apart, just smiled gently at one another and shrugged: moments like this were becoming more frequent and neither minded it, choosing instead to enjoy them.

A quick glance at the clock and John face paled.  
"Rose, we're late!" He exclaimed, picking up his bag and dashing to the changing room with a quick "See ya later".  
The girl couldn't help but laugh quietly while getting her bag. Then her gaze fell on the flowers in her hands and butterflies sparked in her stomach: he had remembered her birthday and he had planned a surprise. Not only that, he had bought her her favorite flowers, and paid her back for how she had wished him a happy birthday.  
If the day had started well, it seemed it was getting even better. 

* * *

**John was proud of himself: Rose had been surprised and she seemed quite happy, even now, minutes after, hard training breaking their breaths.**  
 **She still wasn't fast enough for the two of them to be close to talk, but she was close and he could see the brilliant smile and her twinkling eyes.**  
 **"That's the lass, huh?" He heard from his side and almost jumped at Mickey's question.**  
 **"Hmp?" He only asked, stare fixed on the birthday girl.**  
 **"You know what I mean, the one you fancy" Mickey snorted and John turned his eyes away from her figure to glare in disbelief at his friend.**  
 **"If you mean the girl I've become friend with then yes, it's Rose. If you really mean what you said then no, definitely not." He answered, spelling out every word carefully and sternly to Mickey.**  
 **"Yeah, keep telling yourself that" was all he got before his friend moved away leaving him out of words.**

* * *

"So... He's _your_ boyfriend?" Martha asked Rose, some envy slipping in her words despite doing her best to mask it.  
Rose was glad that her cheeks were already red for the fatigue, or else she would have blushed quite hard.  
"No, he's not" Rose said embarrassed.  
Martha frowned.  
"Come on, you can tell me"  
"No, really, he's not! We're friends, just that"  
Martha was confused: Rose seemed honest, but...  
"Then why did he bring you flowers? On Valentine's Day?"  
Rose, that just now understood her friend's confusion, smiled sheepishly.  
"Well, that should be because it's my birthday" she said, her voice getting softer and softer with every word, knowing what was coming.  
Martha shrieked.  
"What?! Really? Why didn't you tell me?" Rose just shrugged.  
The brunette then pulled her into a hug.  
"Happy birthday, Rose!" She added for good measure, and Rose couldn't help but smile: it seemed like she had a new real friend. 

* * *

"Ehm, Rose? We have a problem..." John said sheepishly.  
Rose shook her head smiling.  
"What?"  
"I may have forgotten your present at home" He smiled, hand tugging at one ear. It was a nervous habit of his, Rose noticed.  
"Hang on, my present?" She asked surprised.  
He only nodded in answer.  
"I thought the flowers were my present..." She admitted, and John shrugged.  
They were both silent for a moment, then John took a deep breath and asked.  
"Would it be okay if I dropped by at your house later?" He asked timidly.  
"Of course!" She answered, offering a sincere smile in answer.  
"See you later then, doll" he winked, leaving an astounded Rose behind, wondering about him and his many surprises.

* * *

 **Earbuds in place, John set off walking to Rose's house.**  
 **Only he could forget a present at home even if it was the only thing he needed to remember, he thought shaking his head.**  
 **He focused again on the song playing and found himself sing along inadvertently.**  
 **"I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now" he sang quietly, his thoughts inevitably drifting back to his blonde friend.**  
 **And just like that, he was startled: it was true. The words of this song were true, very much too: he felt in a way that was so strange about Rose. Damn bloody Liam Gallagher for hitting the nail right on the head**  
 **Rose was probably was his best friend, and he really cared about her, but it wasn't just that. It wasn't a crush either: he had had plenty of them, but none felt like this. He was just... happy when he was with her and even when he thought of her. And he thought about her _a lot._**  
 **And just like that, he knew that their relationship was special, something unique. Something he didn't have a label for, but didn't want to lose.**  
 **"'Cause after all, you're my wonderwall" he sang softly, smiling at the truth in the words. That's what she was: his _wonderwall_. Or maybe the girl he was irrevocably in love with, not that he'd ever admit that of course.**

 **Her house came into view and he readied himself: headphones back in his coat, bag with her present securely in hand, he took a deep breath and ringed the bell.**  
 **"It's for me!" He heard shouting from inside the house and smiled slowly.**  
 **When a breathless Rose, with her hair tidied up in a loose ponytail opened the door his smile widened.**  
 **"Hey there.." He hummed.**  
 **"Hello" She said, tongue catching between her teeth in the way that drove John crazy.**  
 **Immediately, she stepped aside and let him in, leading him to the already known living room.**  
 **Nobody was there, luckily, John noticed.**  
 **"Make yourself at home" she threw in, making her way to the couch.**  
 **John took off his couch and draped it over a chair before making his way to her and plopping down on the couch next to her.**  
 **He then handed her the wrapped present with a tentative smile.**  
 **"Hope you like it.."**

Rose stared at the beautiful wrapping and chuckled at John's idea: of course he would use a pool printed paper.  
"Open it!" John urged smiling.  
The girl, shaking her head happily at John's impatient behavior, started tearing the paper just in the right places so it wouldn't be ruined.  
The boy huffed.  
"That's not how you open a present" John pouted and Rose couldn't help but laugh.  
"Shush, I wanna keep the wrapping!" She bit back and could see John barely keeping from jokingly pulling his tongue at her.  
When a rectangular jewelry box came into view, she threw a suspicious glance at him and he just smiled innocently.  
Almost reverently, she put the paper aside and took the box in her lap. Slowly, she opened the lid and revealed a silver chain (a bracelet, probably) with two charms: a rose (to which the girl couldn't contain the smile), and...a police box? She frowned at this: was it the same one he had on his backpack? And what did it mean?  
She lifted her eyes to his and the confusion must have been written in her eyes, for John nodded understandingly.  
"I owe you an explanation, I know" He said and was opening his mouth when a loud voice shut him off.

 **"John! It's you! Why didn't you tell me Rose?" Jackie came into the room and John caught Rose cringing before turning completely to the older woman.**  
 **"I just came by to give Rose a present I had forgotten earlier" John answered sheepishly.**  
 **He saw Jackie's eyes narrow curiously and focus on Rose's lap, but the girl had already closed the box and put it in a corner where her mom couldn't see. He half chuckled at that, immediately hoping the older woman didn't hear it.**  
 **When she finished the fruitless inspection of the room, Jackie shook herself and smiled again at John.**  
 **"Are you staying for dinner? I made chips especially for her birthday" Jackie winked pointing to the girl sitting next to him and John was torn: he wanted to stay but...would he be really welcome? Wouldn't he bother them? Would Rose want him here? Christ, he had to make a choice rather sharpish too.**  
 **This last thought made him turn to her, throwing a questioning gaze in her direction.**  
 **Rose smiled shrugging.**  
 **"I'd love for you to stay. If you don't have other things to do, that is" She said softly.**  
 **"Are you sure I won't be a bother, Miss Tyler?" He asked addressing her mother.**  
 **"Of course not!" She answered, looking almost offended.**  
 **John hesitated for a moment, then nodded.**  
 **"Let me just call my mum.." He added, getting up to retrieve his phone.**  
 **While John was not looking, Jackie threw a wink at her daughter.**  
 **"Great! I'm going to add another plate. Dinner will be ready in half an hour." She said, heading back to the kitchen.**

 **Rose used the opportunity to speak up.**  
 **"Would you mind if I went change while you call your mum? I hadn't the chance before you got here and I really want to get out of these jeans" She added.**  
 **"Go ahead, I'll be waiting right here!" He said smiling softly.**

* * *

"Nice hoodie" was the first thing John said upon seeing her.  
She had donned her new favourite jumper, jogging bottoms and had let her hair down. Finally.  
She smiled widely making her way to the couch. She sat down close to John, feet tucked underneath her.  
"Thanks. It's a birthday present, actually"  
John looked at it curiously: it was dark blue and had the whole gang from "the Big Bang Theory" printed on the front and just "Bazinga" on the back.  
"I take it that you're a fan, then?" he asked, even though it was more of a statement than a question.  
She nodded in answer.  
"You?"  
"Yep, me too" He grinned, then added "Sheldon is a genius" excitedly.  
Rose laughed.  
"So says Time. I think that he has a tad too many OCDs, though" she said, eyes twinkling.  
"Oh, so Time gave it to you" John half asked.  
"Are you deducting?" Rose asked playfully.  
"I think I am." John followed up  
"Copper's hunch?" She bit back.  
"Permission to follow it up, Sarge?" He said, the glint in his eyes giving away his serious face.  
Rose huffed and finally answered.  
"Yes, she gave it to me. It was actually kinda funny when we found out we were both fans."  
John seemed to already have an inkling on what that might be, but nodded, letting her do the explaining.  
"Well, one of our teachers had said a joke that he obviously found funny, even if it was the kind that are only hilarious to teachers, you know?" She asked, waiting for confirmation.  
When she got it, she went on.  
"Anyway, we both sighed and said «Bazinga» simultaneously. At that we turned towards each other and burst into laughter. Of course the teacher was very pleased that someone understood his joke" she finished snorting.  
 **John was smiling widely shaking his head: he could listen to Rose talking for hours. She had this really melodic voice, everything she said was laced with excitement and her laugh...god her laugh. It was infectious and breathtaking at the same time.**  
 **"We should watch it together, the three of us, sometimes" John offered and Rose's brilliant smile was a gratifying answer.**  
 **"Yes, we definitely should" she answered softly.**  
 **Just then, Jackie's shout came again "I'm sorry, there's been a delay. Dinner will be ready in half an hour from _now_!"**  
 **Rose started laughing and John soon joined her.**  
 **"Does she always do that?" He asked after they had calmed down.**  
 **"Only when guests are around" She winked at him.**

 **They sat in silence for some minutes, enjoying the quiet presence of the other and drifting in and out of their thoughts.**  
 **"I think you owe me an explanation" Rose said suddenly, turning to him, echoing the boy's words from earlier.**  
 **He nodded, still looking in front of him, and gathered his thoughts before looking at her.**  
 **"Well, you know that I have quite an obsession with police boxes" he started sheepishly.**  
 **Rose nodded, not wanting to interrupt him.**  
 **"There's actually a reason for that. My father and I, we...loved to stargaze, and theorize about aliens and other life forms in the universe." He said, his eyes looking so far away, lost in memories.**  
 **Rose was touched that he was trusting her with something that meaningful for him and reached for his hand, taking it in hers cautiously.**  
 **John's lips lifted slightly at the gesture as he continued to speak.**  
 **"He had this crazy theory that was my favourite: he thought that police boxes where alien ships." He said, and looked at her in the eyes, not surprised to find confusion and amusement.**  
 **"Not every one of them, of course. But he thought that it would have been the perfect camouflage, in any period of time. Used to mutter something about «humans not noticing the things that were under their noses»" he chuckled at this, and Rose did too, finding the courage to finally speak up.**  
 **"Well, it _does_ make sense" she piped in, squeezing his hand lightly.**  
 **John smiled and nodded.**  
 **"And that's where my obsession comes from. One of my favorite memories of my dad" he concluded, still smiling softly and squeezing Rose hand back.**  
 **The girl sat in silence, hand tangled with his, taking in what he had just said.**  
 **"So the bracelet...that's you and me?" She asked slowly.**  
 **"Who's the one deducing now?" He asked playfully.**  
 **Then his face took a more serious turn, even though a soft smile was still present on his face.**  
 **"This way you can't get rid of me" John said, his voice teasing but his eyes conveying the meaningfulness of his words.**

Rose was shocked into silence by his words: one sentence, that was enough to make her heart thump faster and take her breath away.  
He had put so much thought in making her birthday special, and had added something so treasured as his best memory of his lost father.  
Never before a single person made her feel so important and... _loved_.  
That was the right word, what she was feeling right now.  
A bit overwhelmed, she threw her arms around John's neck and hugged him tightly, her face on his chest.  
John sneaked his arms around her waist, tucked her head under his chin and pulled her gently into him even more.  
"Thank you" Rose whispered.  
The boy bowed his head and kissed the top of her head, feather light, but they were so close that Rose felt it.  
"You're very welcome" he said using the same ushered tone.  
Then, they just sat there, tangled together.  
Rose was surrounded by John's smell, his strong arms circling her and his calming heartbeat thudding softly underneath her ear and she could easily tell that this was her new favorite place. She could happily stay here forever.

Suddenly the front door opened. "We're home!" They heard Pete saying and suddenly Rose felt John tense.  
At that she leaned back and looked him in the eyes, laughter on the edge of her vocal chords.  
"You still scared of him?" She said, the last words mixing with laughter because of the quiet panic in the boy's eyes and his sharp nod.  
At this John pouted.  
"What? He's your father!"  
Rose just shook her head, smiling at her friend's antics.  
"Rose! Rose! Look what I made for you!" Shouted Tony running into the room.  
Rose gently disentangled from the loose hug she had with John and turned to her little brother, noting the light blush on her friend's checks.  
As Tony made his way around the couch and noticed the older boy, his face lightened up.  
"John!" He shouted and threw himself at him.  
He was cut off balance by the sudden movement, but the momentum was cushioned by the back of the couch and he hugged him back.  
"Hey buddy" He greeted cheerily and saw the bright, tender smile on Rose's face.  
"No hug for me?" She asked pouting instead.  
Tony peeled himself off of John and turned to his sister, still on the older's boy lap.  
"This first!" He exclaimed presenting to her a paper with two figures and a birthday cake.  
"Is this you and me?" She asked smiling.  
He nodded eagerly.  
"It's brilliant! I love it champ!" She said excitedly and extended her arms to hug him.  
This time it was John's time to gaze longingly at her: her relationship with her brother really was something special.  
"Dinner's ready!" They heard and Rose immediately stood up and smirked.  
"Race you two to the kitchen!" She stood up and started running, chased by Tony and finally by a laughing John. 

* * *

"And that's the Warrior constellation" John said, pointing to a corner of the sky.  
They had come out after dinner, taking with them two thick blankets, one to lay on the ground and the other to cover them because it was pretty cold.  
Now they were laying next to each other, heads close together, and John was pointing to different constellations and sharing stories about them.  
It was a clear night and Rose had turned off the lights in her back garden, so despite the light pollution a lot of stars were visible.  
"If we are very lucky we could see a shooting star. We probably won't, because there are no meteorites showers around this time of the year, but there's no moon and a particularly clear sky, so..." He said and Rose smiled fondly at him in the darkness: he knew so many things about every subject and had a way to tell them that made you want to listen to him. Or maybe it was just her, she thought blushing. She did like his voice an awful lot.

 **John turned his head towards Rose to see why she had been silent for so long and caught a flash of her soft smile before she gazed back at the sky quickly.**  
 **He smiled to himself: she was still a mystery to him, one he would gladly spend a lot of time solving.**  
 **"It's beautiful..."Rose whispered, and John bit back his cliché answer "you are" because, even if it was true, it certainly wasn't the right time and well... He just wasn't sure what she would get from it. Good god, was he starting to overthink things?**

 **"Everything okay?" She asked.**  
 **He probably had groaned out loud at himself, he figured.**  
 **"Yeah, sure. Don't worry" he said offering a reassuring smile and she didn't press further.**  
 **Silence surrounded them, broken only by some obnoxiously loud car driving by in the distance.**  
 **"Can I ask you something?" Rose whispered suddenly.**  
 **He hummed affirmatively in answer.**  
 **"Did you and your dad stargaze a lot?"**  
 **John was a bit surprised at this, but also oddly touched: it was the question of someone who _cared_ to know about his past and the things that made him happy, and this was something treasured.**  
 **"Before my brother was born, we lived in a smaller house, just outside the city. It had this room, with a massive skylight. Looking through it you could see the stars as if you were outside, and we spent hours laying on the couches that were in the room, pointing at constellations and learning about things. Of course we did the same when we moved, but dad had less time and more children, so... It always was our thing, anyway" John said softly, his voice betraying the emotions he still felt: joy, enthusiasm and loss.**  
 **At his words Rose had moved closer to him, leaning her head tentatively on his shoulder and taking his hand in the dark.**  
 **He felt like chuckling: how she knew how to keep him grounded was beyond him, but he was quite happy that she knew him so well.**  
 **"Sounds like a fantastic hobby" Rose whispered.**  
 **"It is" He answered in kind.**  
 **Silence surrounded them again, peace washing over them with it.**  
 **It was in these moments that John treasured his relationship with Rose: the fact that they could just stay in silence, get comfort and happiness by just being together, connected by a barely there but always present physical contact, like holding hands, was what made _them_ special. What made this unique.**

 **The 'imperial march' broke the peaceful quiet and they both jumped.**  
 **"What time is it?" John asked panicking while fumbling for his phone.**  
 **"Past eleven, I think" Rose answered.**  
 **He cursed.**  
 **"My mum's gonna kill me" He said finally finding his phone and answering.**  
 **"Hey Donna" He said sheepishly.**  
 **"Where the hell are you? Mum will go crazy if she finds out you're not home yet!"**  
 **"Yeah sorry I know... I just hadn't seen what time it was"**  
 **"What're you doing with your friends of yours, eh Johnny boy?" Jack piped in and John groaned, but heard Rose stifle a laugh.**  
 **"Nothing you would do" He answered and was rewarded by a snort coming from Donna.**  
 **"N'aww, you're no fun!" Jack answered, clearly pouting.**  
 **Then John noticed something.**  
 **"Hang on, you said mum doesn't know anything yet?" He asked.**  
 **"Yeah, that's right. If you move your arse I'll keep her busy until you get here." Donna promised.**  
 **"Donna Noble, I love you."**  
 **"Yeah yeah, chop chop, Spaceman!" She answered laughing and hung up.**  
 **John turned his head to Rose, that was tantalising close to his but managed to keep any stray thought out of his head.**  
 **"You have to make me meet them someday." Rose said half laughing.**  
 **"Yeah, we'll see about that" He answered playfully.**  
 **"And you owe me a meteorites shower" She bit back.**  
 **"We have a deal." He answered.**  
 **Her eyes were twinkling in the darkness, shining as stars in the sky, and she was beautiful.**  
 **Coughing to compose himself, he spoke again.**  
 **"Well, really gotta go now" he said, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.**  
 **Slowly, he lifted himself taking the blanket with him.**  
 **As he stood up and started folding it, Rose swatted his hands and took it from him.**  
 **"Go, and be careful" She ordered.**  
 **"Yes m'am" he answered grinning and stumbled a bit when she leaned up and pressed a kiss on his cheek.**  
 **"Write to me when you're at home" She whispered pushing him towards the road.**  
 **It took him some seconds to understand what she had said, then he turned to her walking away.**  
 **"Will do, doll" He winked.**

* * *

Rose was storing away the blankets in her room's wardrobe, dancing to the songs John had suggested to her. She shook her head to herself: she couldn't believe he was such a Taylor Swift's fan.  
As she was putting her pyjamas on, her personal favourite song came.  
"'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello." and your eyes look like coming home.  
All I know is a simple name. Everything has changed."  
She whispered along.  
As she got under the duvet and turned to shut the music off, a text arrived.  
"Made it home safe and avoided mum. Happy birthday again. Nighty night, shooting star. XO' was all it said, and she couldn't help but smile.  
The last thing she thought before falling asleep was the last sentence of the song that described so well how her life was since John had came in it: "all I know since yesterday, is everything has changed".


	16. Harry Potter

**AN: Hey there! As promised, here's the new chapter!  
I didn't received any feedback on the other one...Hope you still liked it, though!  
Let me know what you think of this one too!**

* * *

The "Harry Potter Tuesday" had become their thing: every Tuesday they would meet at John's (Tuesday being the only day his house was completely free), and read the books together.  
The first time had been awkward: it hadn't been long since Rose's big fight with her 'friends' and she had thought a relaxing afternoon could make her feel better. She had already visited John's house a couple of times for tutoring, but this time it was for fun, so instead of going to the enormous study room with the desks and the immense library, he had taken her to the living room had two couches, one cream white and the other a particular shade of blue (the same of his backpack, she had noticed), that were put in front of a small coffee table and a quite large tv.  
"I would have never guessed the house would be this big from outside." she'd said.  
He had just smiled enigmatically and said "It's bigger on the inside".

* * *

They had sat down on the blue couch, each with their own book in hand, some space between them, and started reading, agreeing to stop after the first chapter to comment Doctor, however, had finished ages before Rose and kept complaining about her slowness."Why don't you read aloud, then?" She had asked, challenging had pondered for a moment, then shrugged and started reading out loud. Rose then had gotten comfortable, putting her socks-clad feet on the coffee table (as John had done earlier) and listening to the beautiful voice of her friend.

When they had reached the 'Sorting Hat' chapter, the sorting challenge had started.  
"I'd say.. you're a Gryffindor!" Exclaimed Rose. John then had asked her why. "Well... First because of your success. That's something really important in both Gryffindor and Slytherin. But you're not as subtle as the latter and success is not your top priority. You're probably more brave and reckless like a Gryffindor." She'd finished with a grin. John had been touched about how much thought she had put into this. "Well, those are some great hypothesis, buut..nope. Not a Gryffindor" he'd smiled. "Ravenclaw?" She had tried again and this time he grinned and nodded. "My turn! You belong in Hufflepuff: kind, hard worker, loyal, brave, caring.. Often wrongly underrated as they're probably the best in Hogwarts."Rose had been shell-shocked: he got it right at the first try and had also added some simple words that hit the still most vulnerable spots and healed a little the hurt. She'd croaked out a "thanks" and hugged him. John had smiled a dopey grin and held her against him. Then he'd went on reading, while Rose had remained settled close to him, ending up with her head on his shoulder.  
Since that time, their tradition stayed strong: one of them read, the other sat (and, after some time, snuggled) against the first one. This all had started almost a month ago and they were now starting the third of good ol' J.K's books. While John had had the chance to meet Rose's family, the girl hadn't met in person any of John's relatives. She'd heard him talk to the phone with him, but nothing more.  
Today it was Rose's turn to read and she was sitting on the couch, waiting for John, who had gone to the bathroom and to grab some snacks. However, that was taking longer than she expected and her sleepiness was kicking in: she had had a hell of a week, culminating in two tests yesterday and to say she was exhausted was an understatement. «it might be not so wise, but I really need to lay down» Rose thought, deciding to risk it while she waited for him.

* * *

 **John rushed out of the kitchen and towards the living room, but stopped dead on his track upon seeing the view on the couch, his couch: Rose was lying down, eyes closed and golden hair falling off the couch. A wave of affection ran through him: this pink and yellow girl had quickly become his best friend, the time spent with her the highlight of his days. Feeling brave, he walked up to her, careful not to make any noise, put the tray on the coffee table and approached the couch. Slowly, gently, he cradled her head in his hands and lifted her upper body. Then he sat down on the couch and put her head back down, this time on his legs. Oh god, had he really done this? In that moment she stirred.**  
 **"Mmh" She half-mumbled, opening her eyes. She was somewhat startled to see brown eyes looking down at her. Her brain took some time to realize what must have happened and felt her heart beat faster.**  
 **"Tired, much?" John asked, trying to break the awkward situation. He relaxed when he saw her smile and nod.**  
 **"I went to bed at an ungodly hour last night.." She explained.**  
 **John looked at her beautiful face and gave into his impulse, starting to slowly stroke her hair.**  
Rose bit back an approval noise at the sensation of his fingers running on her scalp.  
"What do you say if for today I read and you just relax?" He asked with kind eyes.  
"That would be fantastic." She whispered. John smiled and started reading, still stroking lightly her hair and Rose felt herself relax under his gentle fingers and soft voice.

 **John went on reading, feeling her relax more and more, until she slipped in a peaceful, light sleep. He continued reading for another chapter, then lowered the book, putting it on the floor, and started looking at her face. Gently, as lightly as he could manage, he traced her features: her empathic eyes, the cute curve of her nose, her plump lips...He imagined her laugh, eyes crinkled and sparkling, mouth open and laughter raining out of it as a spring soft rain.**

 **Suddenly he heard the door close and sent a "ssh!" towards the entrance, hoping that his relatives could keep quiet (and also hoping that it wasn't innuendos-Jack).**  
 **He heard light footsteps and thanked God for it. Then he saw a red head peek from the door.**  
 **John kept slowly stroking her hair and smiled sheepishly at Donna, who shot him a knowing grin. She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her and motioned for her to come over: it wouldn't do to have her shout now.**  
 **"So..I guess this is Rose..." She whispered to him and he just nodded and smiled.**  
 **"I'll introduce you after she wakes up" He whisper shouted, motioning for her leave rather than stop to chat.**  
 **"You better do it, Spaceman. Good choice, anyway" Donna said winking and leaving the room. John blushed and looked down once again.**

 **Some time later, Rose stirred again and John smiled at her content sigh.**  
 **"Hey, sleepy-head" he smiled happily.**  
 **"Hi" She smiled sheepishly.**  
 **"Did you sleep well?"**  
 **"Yes" She said with a happy sigh and John couldn't help resuming his motion of stroking her hair, threading his fingers lightly in her locks, and either stop the content hum from the back of his throat.**

Rose's smile widened and butterflies bloomed in her stomach: this was bliss. If they could just stay like this forever..  
She saw John's other hand was free, so she took it and started playing with his fingers. The domesticity of this whole thing should come as a surprise, but it doesn't, not really. Not after her awesome birthday and all the fantastic moments they had spent together.  
"Donna came home earlier. I told her she could met you when you woke up. Is that okay?" His voice softly broke the silence.  
Rose's eyes widened when she realized she didn't know what time was, but before she could even open her mouth, John spoke.  
"Relax, it's not even five."  
«Wow, we've come to know each other so well..»"Yes, it'll be no problem meeting your sister" She smiled up at him, fixing her eyes in his and losing herself in them. A voice from the door broke their moment.  
"John, you want some-... Oh sorry! You're awake!" A ginger girl said from the doorstep.  
Rose watched amused as a crimson blush tinged John's cheeks, then pushed herself up and stood, walking to the other girl, sticking her hand out.  
"Hi, I'm Rose" Said girl said with a smile and watched as Johns sister took her shoulder and and used it to drag her into a hug.  
"Hi Rose, I'm Donna. John has talked a lot about you" she said with a grin. John blushed even harder and both the girls giggled.  
"I don't know how you can like that dork, though" Donna then added and watched as Rose's smile turned sweet. Donna gave them a moment, then spoke again.  
"You want a cuppa?"  
"Sure" Rose smiled and both girls turned around, giggling together and talking.

 **John groaned: what had he gotten himself into? Then, sighing, he smiled: he might be in trouble, but his sister and his best friend (his wonderwall, he reminded himself) went along well and even seemed to like each other. That was a really great thing. He'd better go and find them before Donna embarrassed him. More than she already had, anyway.**

Rose watched as Donna put the kettle on: she really liked the redhead. She was funny, witty and clever and she could see the traits she shared with her brother. "You know, I was serious when I said he talks a lot about you. It's strange because I've never seen him being so happy only talking about someone." Donna said pensively, eyes still trained on the stove.  
"I'm glad you have that effect on him, though" she added turning to her and smiling.  
Rose blushed but stayed silent: did she really affect him that much?  
"Really?" She asked in a small voice. Donna looked at her and smiled broadly.  
"Yes!" She exclaimed.  
"Yes what?" Asked a voice from the doorway, and Rose blushed recognising John's voice.  
"Yes you do spend an awfully long time to get ready" The redhead bit back promptly, gaining an offended huff from John and a giggle from Rose.  
The boy looked suspiciously at the two girls, then sat down at the table.  
"Ooh come on, don't pout! The tea should be ready soon" Rose said laughing and patting him on the shoulder before dropping on a chair next to him. Soon Donna joined them and the trio ate in a companionable way, laughing, teasing and talking. And making fun of John in the meantime, obviously.

After some time Rose glanced at the clock and jumped up.  
"Sorry, my dad is probably waiting for me outside..." She said smiling apologetically and walking to the living room to pick up her things. Then she walked back towards the door and found the siblings waiting for her.  
Donna hugged again and smiled.  
"Hope to see you again soon! You have my number in case..." She said shooting a glance at her brother and enjoyed seeing him freeze worriedly.  
Rose half laughed and nodded, smiling at her newfound friend and watching as she walked back to the kitchen, probably to tidy up.  
"Should I be worried?" John asked glancing between her and the room where his sister had disappeared to.  
"Mh...probably" Rose teased with her signature smile and John found it hard to pout at that.

Rose then sobered a bit and stared in his eyes.  
"Thank you for today... I really needed the rest." She said smiling softly up at him.  
"No problem, sleepyhead." He grinned back, face stretching into a wide, breathtaking smile, and brought her into an hug.  
She brought her arms around his waist and sighed, relaxing in his hold and savoring the feeling of his body protecting her, the safety she always felt in times like this. He leaned his head on hers, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and lightly stroking her back.  
Rose's phone ringing brought them back to Earth and they both sighed. Feeling brave (and a bit reckless), the girl turned her head slightly and left a small kiss on John's neck, barely there but enough to make the boy blush.  
"Gotta go" She whispered apologetically.  
The Doctor nodded and reluctantly let her go. She grabbed her bag and stepped outside, turning towards him once again.  
"See you tomorrow?" John nodded and she smiled, getting on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek as a goodbye.  
"Bye!" She called over her shoulder.  
 **John called out a small "goodbye" and stepped back in when she was safely in the car.**

 **Leaning against the closed the door, he lifted a hand to his neck where her lips had been and sighed.**  
 **"Oi spacemen! Done daydreaming yet?" His sister's voice broke through his thoughts. He lifted his eyes and glared at her.**  
 **"Oh come on! You were all heart-eyes and you could as well have blacked out while you were holding her." She said matter-of-factly.**  
 **"I-I didn't, I swear!" He stuttered.**  
 **"Oh, this is wizard! Our little spaceman's in love" Donna let out with a grin.**  
 **Then she added:"You did choose well this time, though. She's really great."**  
 **"Oh yes, she is." He bit back dreamingly once again.**  
 **"Oh spaceman..." She smiled and patted his back.**


	17. A shared hideout

**AN: Hey guys! I'm finally back!  
I'm so sorry for not posting earlier :/  
Thanks so much to everybody that helped and gave me advice about this!  
Hope you like it! Tell me what you think, pleaaase!  
**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing if not my ideas.**

* * *

"I know you _love_ Mac Gonnall, deep down" Rose teased John.  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm a rebel" He said puffing his chest out and winking.  
Rose snorted. "Yeah, right"  
John pouted while unlocking the door to his house.

It was a Tuesday and it was Harry Potter time. They had reached the fourth book and were at a crucial point, both knowing what was coming and dreading it.  
"What? It's true! I am!" He protested, pushing the door open.  
"You are what? Boring?" Came a voice from inside.  
John froze on the spot and his face hardened, even if his eyes showed a deep fear.  
Rose, worried, put a hand on his back.  
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Asked a boy coming from the kitchen, smirking.  
Rose had to admit it: he was good looking. Dark brown hair, blue piercing eyes and a smile as dazzling as his brother's made the package rather appealing.  
As soon as he saw her, however, he shot her a flirty smile that she had _not_ seen on his brother's face.  
"You're not gonna introduce your pretty friend here?" He asked at John.  
"What are you doing here?" The eldest bit back harshly.  
"Woah, hello to you too, brother. My lessons were cancelled, but in heading out in two minutes, just dropped by to get changed." Jack answered playfully.  
Rose was surprised at John's behavior, but she could also see how tense and...worried? he was. She had never seen him like that. It looked like he was living his worst nightmare.  
"Well, since you don't seem too keen on being polite..." Jack said, moving towards her and already offering his hand, but John stepped in, putting himself between his brother and his friend. This defensiveness was weird, and Rose was taken aback by it.  
Reaching for his hand, she took his right one in her left and squeezed it.  
John, sighing, moved away, and Rose stepped next to him.  
"Fine. Rose, this is Jack, my brother. Jack, this is Rose."The girl took his hand and was surprised when, instead of shaking it, Jack brought it to his lips and kissed its top.  
"A pleasure to meet you, Rose. I wonder what a beautiful girl like you is doing with this nerd" He jabbed playfully at John, his voice clearly flirtatious.  
Rose blushed at the compliment, but squeezed John's hand and leaned her head on his arm.  
"Uh, I dunno. This 'nerd' seems pretty good to me" She answered, smiling up at him, and she could see the almost predatory twinkle disappear from the boy's icy eyes.  
"Oh, I see..." He said, playfulness back on.  
"I guess you're right, he is pretty clever" Jack said, smirking at John.  
The tense posture disappeared from John's body and he rolled his eyes, relaxing.  
" _He_ is right here, you know" He said, faking annoyance.  
"Oh, hi John! Hadn't seen you there!" Jack exclaimed and Rose giggled.

Shooting a glance at the clock, the clear eyed boy put his coat on.  
"Well, I gotta go." He said, moving to the door. "Rose, it's been a pleasure. Have fun, but not too much" He winked and wiggled his eyebrows before stepping outside.  
John sighed, exasperated but smiling.  
"Yeah, yeah. Bye Jack" he said closing the door.  
Then he turned around and went in the kitchen.

Rose was puzzled by the interaction between the two brothers, but decided to wait to ask and followed John, where he was pouring himself some juice.  
 **"You want some?" He asked.  
"Yes, please" she answered, picking up a glass and handing it out.  
John watched proudly as Rose moved comfortably around his kitchen, smiling as she remembered at the first try were glasses where. **

**Silently, they moved to the living room and sat down close to each other.  
"My turn, right?" Rose asked holding up the book.  
John nodded, his mind miles away: he knew he had overreacted earlier, but he couldn't help it. Jack had a bad effect on him, and on his friends too. They always chose his brother and his charm over him and he couldn't let it happen with Rose. **

The girl read a whole chapter, but didn't get a single comment or reaction out of John.  
Sighing, she put the book away and her theory was confirmed when the boy didn't question why she had stopped.  
"Hey..." She said, leaning a hand on his shoulder.  
John shook his head to clear his mind.  
"Sorry, I spaced out..."  
Rose chuckled: that was the understatement of the month.  
"Yeah, I noticed."  
When she didn't get any answer, she got worried.  
"Wanna tell me what's on your mind?" She asked softly.  
John sighed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.

Feeling the need to comfort him, and also particularly brave, she shifted on the couch.  
"Lay down" she said offering her lap as a pillow. He hesitated.  
"Come on..." She whispered and he relented.  
Slowly he lowered himself on the couch, part of his legs dangling down the side of it, head on the girl's legs.  
Giving into her desires, she threaded her fingers through his hair: they really were as soft as they seemed.  
A small moan made its way out of the back of his throat and his eyes fluttered close.  
Smiling softly, Rose spoke again.  
"What's bothering you?"  
John sighed.  
"It's stupid."  
"If it's bothering you so much, then it can't be that stupid." She bit back, her voice barely above a whisper.  
 **Focusing on the soft caresses she was giving him, he gathered his strength and prayed that Rose wouldn't think less of him when this was over.  
"I'm sorry I acted like that with my brother earlier. I know I was out of line." He sighed again.  
**Rose didn't say anything, just waited for him to let it all out.  
"It's just... I feel threatened by Jack. He's my brother, and I really love him, but... Well, let's say he is far more interesting than I am." He said with a dry chuckle, his voice sad.  
Rose struggled to keep her mouth shut even if she thought what he was saying was all kind of wrong. He needed to say this, though, so she forced her feelings down, focusing on his harsh words and on her soothing motion on his scalp, that were probably calming her more than him.  
He sighed.  
"Lots of times, people I called friends... They left me. And that happened because of John. Or better, because of his charm." He forced a half laugh.  
Rose's heart constricted at the dejectedness in his voice and the pain in his eyes. Gently, carefully, she traced his cheek with her fingers, ever so lightly, hoping it could give him some strength.  
John closed his eyes and shuddered, then sighed. He felt like all he had done since this had started was sighing.  
"He is sorry, really. He tells me every chance he gets, just... Even if I know it will happen, it still hurts every time, you know? Everyone prefers him to me." He added, his voice breaking at the end.  
Rose felt helpless, and angry, and heartbroken for him: how could they do that? To him, of all people!  
"I always have this feeling that, when somebody seem to be my friend, it's not true. That they're close to me because they need help at school, or because I'm quite good at swimming and so it's nice having «one of the favorites» near you. And sometimes my suspicion are confirmed and-..." He cut himself off, eyes misty and voice rough.  
The blonde girl couldn't take it anymore: she had never thought people could be so mean.  
Surprisingly, one of his hand searched hers and she took it, squeezing it and then tangling their fingers together.  
"I'm sorry..." She said, her voice a whisper, hating how that one word couldn't even begin to convey how she felt, how much his pain was hurting her too.  
John chuckled drily again.  
"Don't be... I'm the one who's bothering you with this stupid things and wallowing in self pity. I'm the one who's sorry." He said bitterly, eyes looking anywhere but at her.  
"Hey..." She whispered, trying to catch his eyes, but he kept staring straight ahead.  
"Look at me." She pleaded.  
Reluctantly he turned his face to her.  
"If I know one thing, is that you're not bothering me. It's actually rather touching that you're telling me this, trusting me with this." She started, giving him a pointed stare.  
"There's no one I'd rather share this with." He whispered so softly she barely heard, and her heart skipped a beat at the softness in his eyes.  
"Secondly, well... Don't doubt yourself. I can't bear to see you doing this to yourself. You're one of the most fantastic person I've ever met and I can't really understand how anyone would ever leave you. You're funny, smart and caring and really, do I have to go on? I'm sorry your friends are so stupid, but it's their loss. I would never ever have left you for your brother. Never." She finished, taking a deep breath and trembling slightly after realizing how much of herself she had revealed.

John was stunned into silence. He opened and closed his mouth, no sound coming out of it, his eyes watering. Finally, he managed to whisper a "thank you" as a tear escaped his eye.  
Rose smiled softly, pressing a hand to the side of his face and stroking away the tear with her thumb.  
"Can I have a hug?" She whispered and John sat up immediately, turning to her and pulling her to him. He buried his face in her neck, while she relished in the feeling of being once again in his arms.  
She was starting to depend on these hugs, these moments made of silence broken only by hushed whispers, of comfort and of sweetness, of understanding and bonding, of barely there caresses and, sometimes, brushed kisses.

 **John inhaled her dizzyingly calming scent in slowly.  
She had this affect on him: whenever he was upset or sad, even her mere presence could make him feel better.  
And god, how much he loved having her in his arms…It was almost as if she was a piece of a puzzle that fit perfectly in his hold.  
He laughed at himself for how much cliché this sounded, like, straight out of a romance novel.  
But really, she was brilliant: he had told her things nobody else knew about him, things he was ashamed of and she was at his side, still. **

John's breath tickled the skin of her neck pleasantly. She stroked his back lightly, feeling the taut muscles under his sweatshirt.  
When the boy breathed in deeply, as if to talk, she straightened up a little.  
"I have something to show you" He whispered, his lips brushing on her skin and causing a small shudder. Then he took her hand and brought her up.  
Wordlessly, he lead her up the stairs that led to the study room. She was surprised when, instead of stopping there, he pushed another door open, one where she'd never been.  
She stiffened when she saw where they were headed: there were two wardrobes next to the door, then a door and a bed with multicolored blankets on the left and a window followed by a bed with blue blankets on the right. John's bedroom.  
However, when John felt her tense, he smirked lightly and she relaxed a bit.  
"Relax, this is not our final destination" He said and Rose scowled playfully at him.  
He stopped in front of the window, then he lifted the rug and took a key from under his bed.  
Rose saw him bend and "What are you-"; she asked him.  
She was stunned into silence when he opened a trapdoor on the floor, stairs visibly going down from there.  
"Ta-dah!" he exclaimed, smiling.

A clear light, probably from a window, made it possible to see the floor.  
"Go ahead" He prompted and, as she descended the stairs he closed the trapdoor.  
When she arrived downstairs she stopped dead in her tracks: before her was a long, not really large room full of objects.  
There were books, pillows, a guitar and many other things. The centre focus of the room seemed to be the cubbyhole like area embedded within one of the walls, dimly lit by several overhead lamps. The small space was made in it a seating area covered in pillows then encased in a teal green bookcases in the spaces walls, clearly worn from years of use and a vast collection of knickknacks and books in varying degrees of tatteredness.  
John jumped down next to her and smiled at the look in awe in her eyes.  
"Welcome to my secret room" He said smiling.  
She was speechless for another couple of seconds, then grinned widely.  
"John, this is beautiful!" She exclaimed.  
The boy smiled softly.  
"It's a room my dad made for me. When my siblings were born, he thought I was going to feel…envious, so he did this. It's my hideout since I was a kid" He said melancholily.  
Rose sought his hand and squeezed it lightly.  
"Seems pretty amazing to me" She whispered back.  
Then, after letting him have some seconds of memories, she lightened the mood.  
"So… can you really play the guitar?"  
"Of course I can!" He retorted back, faking offense.  
"Well, then you'll have to play for me, sometime" She winked with her tongue-touched smile.  
John nodded eagerly, then pulled on her hand.  
"Come over here!" He exclaimed moving a few steps into the room.  
Rose's breath caught when she saw how many books and memories were embedded in the small seating area.  
"Oh my god. Can I try it?" She asked, excited like a little girl on Christmas.  
John nodded and let her get comfortable first amongst the cushions, then he joined her, laying down close to her, passing an arm behind her head and reaching for his special collection of Harry Potter's book from a shelf.  
"Where were we?" He smiled.

Looking at Rose eagerly trying to find the right page, all he could think of was how much a good decision it was to put his secrets in her hands. They were surely safe, he added in his mind, cuddling closer to her and making her lean her head on his chest.  
Safe and sound.


End file.
